April 23, 2025—The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) has announced the first group of winners in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program, and 11 Cobb County students are among the distinguished scholars receiving corporate-sponsored awards.
These Cobb students are among approximately 830 outstanding high school seniors from across the nation selected for this prestigious honor in its 70th year. The scholarships are sponsored by about 124 corporations, company foundations, and business organizations, as well as several foundations and individual donors who have established endowments with NMSC.
Congratulations, Cobb’s 2025 Corporate-Sponsored National Merit Scholarship Winners!
Lassiter High School
| Andrea Joya | Probable career field: Biomedical Engineering | National Merit Truist Scholarship |
| Vikram Sharma | Probable career field: Medicine | National Merit Schneider Electric North America Foundation Scholarship |
Walton High School
| Eugene G. Li | Probable career field: Computer Programming | National Merit Truist Scholarship |
| Spencer Lieth | Probable career field: Engineering | National Merit Vulcan Materials Company |
| Eric Mo | Probable career field: Electrical Engineering | National Merit James E. Casey Scholarship |
| Dhriti Raguram | Probable career field: Neuroscience | National Merit James E. Casey Scholarship |
| Isha Varughese | Probable career field: Finance | National Merit Truist Scholarship |
| Adam Wang | Probable career field: Computer Science | National Merit Norfolk Southern Scholarship |
| William Zhao | Probable career field: Classics | National Merit Siemens Scholarship |
Wheeler High School
| Declan Amerault | Probable career field: Applied Mathematics | National Merit Truist Scholarship |
| Nathan Thomas Kiesel | Probable career field: Science/Research | National Merit ViaSat-ViaSat, Inc. |
Corporate sponsors provide National Merit Scholarships for Finalists who are children of their employees, residents of the company's communities, or plan to pursue college majors or careers the sponsor wishes to encourage.
Each student named a corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholar has demonstrated exceptional academic promise, leadership, and involvement in school and community activities.
Many of these scholarships are renewable for up to four years of undergraduate study, with annual stipends ranging from $1,000 to $10,000. Some scholarships provide a single payment of $2,500 to $5,000. Students may use their awards at any accredited U.S. college or university.
Sponsors representing nearly every sector of the American economy fund these scholarships. These corporate organizations have partnered with NMSC since the program’s inception in 1955, collectively contributing nearly $882 million over the past 70 years to support the education of high-achieving students.
This year’s scholarship recipients began their journey in fall 2023 by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) as high school juniors. From more than 1.3 million program entrants nationwide, over 16,000 students were named Semifinalists last fall. Finalists were selected based on their academic records, recommendations, SAT or ACT scores, personal essays, and leadership in school and community activities.
By the conclusion of the 2025 National Merit Scholarship competition, more than 6,930 Finalists will have earned scholarships totaling nearly $26 million. The Cobb County School District congratulates all the 2025 corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship recipients and their families. These students represent the academic excellence and future-focused drive found throughout Cobb Schools.
