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News Release

Last modified: Thursday, September 15, 2011

IU Bloomington welcomes largest class of National Merit Scholars

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 15, 2011

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Last month, Indiana University Bloomington welcomed 85 National Merit Scholars from nine states, IU's largest class of National Merit Scholars. The students come from Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Tennessee and have an average grade point average of 3.97 and an average SAT score of 1490.

Some are entering as exploratory students, while others have chosen to pursue studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and the schools of business, education, informatics, journalism, music and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

"We are very pleased to have such an outstanding class of National Merit Scholars joining the IU family," said Sarah Booher, director of scholarships at IU in the Office of Enrollment Management. "These students have achieved great academic success in high school and will continue that success at IU on the Bloomington campus."

Indiana University offers a $4,000 scholarship -- $1,000 per year, renewable for four years -- to all students who are National Merit finalists and list IU as their first college choice through the National Merit Scholarship Corp. Many in this group of National Merit Scholars also have received IU's most prestigious scholarships, including the Herbert Presidential Scholarship, the Wells Scholarship, the Cox Research Scholarship and the Hudson and Holland Scholarship. Seven of the scholars were also Valedictorian Award winners.

National Merit Scholarship Program

Established in 1955 to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program, NMSC is a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. The majority of National Merit Scholarships offered each year are underwritten by some 500 independent corporate and college sponsors that support NMSC's efforts to honor the nation's scholastic talent and encourage academic excellence at all levels of education.

For additional information on the National Merit Scholarship Program, go to https://www.nationalmerit.org/nmsp.php.

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