Three students from Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) have been named as recipients of 2025 Merit Scholarship awards by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The students, representing Centreville High School, Fairfax High School, and Chantilly High School, are among more than 800 National Merit Finalists selected to receive additional scholarships funded by higher education institutions. This group joins the initial cohort of 2,900 college-sponsored awardees announced in June.
The scholarship recipients are Jack Koo of Centreville High School, who received a National Merit Vanderbilt University Scholarship and plans to pursue law; Ethan Gertz of Fairfax High School, awarded a National Merit University of Alabama Scholarship with an intended career in physics; and Akshara Subburam of Chantilly High School, recipient of a National Merit Virginia Commonwealth University Scholarship with plans to study medicine.
Each student was evaluated based on their academic record, an essay, information about extracurricular activities, awards and leadership positions, SAT scores that confirmed outstanding test performance, and a recommendation and endorsement from a high school official. According to the release: “Each award provides between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the recipient’s scholarship.”
This announcement brings the total number of 2025 National Merit Scholars to over 7,100 nationwide. Collectively, these high school graduates will receive nearly $26 million in scholarships. In addition to college-sponsored awards, two other types of National Merit Scholarships were available: 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships open to all finalists and about 830 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards given to finalists who met specific criteria set by grantor organizations.
