AUBURN — Oliver E. Hall of Auburn, an Edward Little High School student, has been awarded a National Merit Scholarship of $2,500. Hall’s probable career field will be economics. The award is supported by National Merit Scholarship Corp. funds.

This year’s National Merit Scholarship Program began in October 2017 when over 1.6 million juniors in approximately 22,000 high schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

Only the 16,000 semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition. From that group, some 15,000 students met the high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the finalist level. By the conclusion of the 2019 program, about 7,600 finalists will have earned the “Merit Scholar” title and received a total of over $31 million in college scholarships.

NMSC, a nonprofit corporation that operates without government assistance, was founded in 1955 specifically to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. For more information, visit www.nationalmerit.org.