Hilger named National Merit finalist

Fairfield High School is very proud and honored to announce that Spencer Hilger, son of Shilo and Bonnie Hilger has been selected as a finalist for the National Merit Scholarship Program. Spencer has been taking online college-level classes all through high school. He will be graduating with his Associate of Science degree from Indian Hills Community College as well as his high school diploma in May. This takes a lot of dedication and hard work on his behalf. Fairfield High School is proud of his high academic accomplishments.

Initiated in 1955, the National Merit Scholarship Program is conducted by National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. A sizable number of National Merit Scholarships to be offered in 2022 will be underwritten by NMSC with its own funds, but most will be supported by some 400 independent corporate organizations and higher education institutions.

In each annual National Merit Scholarship Program, about 50,000 academically talented high school students are honored, but only some 16,000 of them are named Semifinalists. Students who qualify as Semifinalists based on their performance on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) are the only program participants who have an opportunity to advance to the Finalist level and compete for National Merit Scholarships. About 7,600 of the outstanding Finalists will be chosen as Merit Scholarship® winners in the 2022 competition.

In March 2022, NMSC will begin notifying scholarship winners, with confidential notification to their high schools. In mid-May 2022, NMSC will notify Finalists who have not won a National Merit Scholarship. However, a few additional scholarships may become available after this date; recipients of those awards will be notified and their names released to the news media during the summer.