T.C. Williams High School senior Zachary C. Whitacre is the recipient of a 2008 National Merit college-sponsored Scholarship. Whitacre, who plans to study business at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., is one of 25 Virginia students who received college-sponsored scholarships, announced on May 28 by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Colleges and universities financed more than 2,800 National Merit Scholarships nationwide.
Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from among finalists in the 2008 National Merit Scholarship Program who plan to attend their institution. These awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship. Another group of scholars will be announced in July, bringing the total number of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship recipients in the 2008 competition to about 4,600. This year 194 higher education institutions are underwriting Merit Scholarship awards through the National Merit Program. Sponsor colleges and universities include 115 private and 79 public institutions located in 43 states and the District of Columbia.