This week, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced that Washington-Lee High School seniors Johanna Klein and Eric Weiner have earned $2,500 scholarships through the National Merit Scholarship Program.

The $2,500 scholarship awards are supported by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation’s own funds. There are 2,500 students from around the country who will receive similar recognition. Scholarship winners were chosen from approximately 15,000 finalists in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program. Finalists from each state were judged by a combination of accomplishments, skills and potential for success in rigorous college studies. They were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors.

This year’s competition for National Merit Scholarships began in October 2015 when more than 1.6 million juniors in over 22,000 high schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Last fall, the highest-scoring participants in each state were named semifinalists.