Eight Fairfax County Public Schools students from six high schools were named winners of 2026 Merit Scholarship awards by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, according to a June 3 announcement. The students are among more than 2,500 National Merit Finalists selected to receive scholarships funded by higher education institutions.
The scholarship recipients and their probable career fields include Daniel Ahn of Centreville High School (music education), who received the National Merit Florida State University Scholarship; Eesha Kaushik of Langley High School (medicine), who earned the National Merit Emory University Scholarship; Atul Kotamraju of McLean High School (bioengineering), recipient of the National Merit Vanderbilt University Scholarship; Karis Kim of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (medicine), awarded the National Merit Wheaton College Scholarship; Payton Morris, also from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (computer science), with the National Merit Grinnell College Scholarship; Sugirthan Nagappan Arun, another student from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (biomedical engineering), receiving the National Merit University of Texas at Dallas Scholarship; Elias Falke of Fairfax High School (actuarial science), winner of the National Merit Liberty University Scholarship; and Jaeden Pangaribuan of Westfield High School (computer engineering), who was granted the National Merit University of Florida Scholarship.
Each scholarship winner was evaluated based on academic record, an essay, extracurricular activities, awards, leadership positions, SAT scores confirming outstanding test performance, as well as a recommendation and endorsement from a high school official. Each award provides between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution providing funding.
The final group of scholarship recipients from this class will be announced in July.