National Merit guaranteed scholarships provide student aid and is widely available across the United States. Students who have managed to qualify for the program will have their picks of choices. Some states have more colleges involved in the programs than others, but regardless students have a great number of quality schools to choose from and they merely need to pick which one they would prefer to go to. Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Mississippi all have a couple of schools each, as an example, which play host to national merit scholars, giving out a number of guaranteed scholarships for those students. All of these universities get access to national merit scholarships through a partnership with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation which is a non-profit group. There are numerous different awards available through the company, including the Achievement Scholarship. In general students who make it through the program as finalists will find schools very welcoming to them, providing incredibly amount of money for them to attend their school. Students who come through as semi-finalists have a more limited set of options, but many schools still provide funding for them as well, some providing program nearly on par with the finalist equivalents. All applicants interested in the national merit guaranteed scholarship program will have to take the PSAT as the initial phase of the program’s screening process.
Wisconsin has two different colleges which provide National Merit guaranteed scholarships. The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh gives out an award which completely covers tuition along with room and board. Another $800 is given out on top of this to help student afford their books. All awards can be renewed for up to four years so long as students maintain a strong academic presence at the university. Over at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire also provides financial awards to national merit scholarship finalists. This program awards a single year of tuition which can be renewed for up to four years. In order to maintain access to these merit scholarships students will also need to keep a 3.0 grade point average while they attend school.
Kentucky’s programs worth note, and students interested in attending school in the state will find at least two different schools which provide access to national merit guaranteed college scholarships. Eastern Kentucky University is one of these two schools giving out both finalist and semi-finalist awards. Students who are eligible as finalists will have their tuition paid for up to eight semesters and be attending full-time. They will also have their room and board paid for along with a stipend to additional costs. In order to maintain the award students will need to keep a 3.0 grade point average. The semi-finalist awards gives out a scholarship which only covers total tuition costs, but also can be renewed for up to eight semesters. At the University of Kentucky, students will have access only to a finalist guaranteed college scholarship. This program pays for the full cost of tuition as well as living expenses at the university and gives out a $500 stipend to help cover additional costs. This is only available initially to freshmen, and students who are there as sophomores or up will receive their full tuition costs covered along with a $2,500 stipend for other expenses, no longer providing for room and board directly.
Mississippi has at least two different colleges offering national merit guaranteed scholarships awarded to students. The University of Southern Mississippi gives out both a finalist and semi-finalist award. Finalists will receive the full cost of their tuition paid for, housing on campus, a meal plan, and access to a stipend to cover the cost of books. On top of this, finalists will also get to utilize a $4,000 scholarship to study abroad should they elect to take a semester or two out of the United States. Semi-finalists will only have their overall cost of tuition covered. Mississippi State University also provides both a semi-finalist and finalist program. Finalists will get $12,000 spread out over a period of four years to help defray the cost of education. Semifinalists will only have access to $6,000.
