Auburn High School Class of 2018 graduate Ellen Chidley was named a National Merit Scholarship Winner on Wednesday.
Chidley was one of approximately 3,500 winners announced today. She plans to attend the University of Alabama and study biology.
Four Auburn students were named as semifinalists in September. The National Merit Scholarship is financed by U.S. colleges and universities, providing between $500 and $2,000 annually up to four years. This year, 178 institutions are underwriting the Merit Scholarship.
More than 1.6 million juniors entered the program by taking the 2016 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than 1 percent of high school seniors in the United States.