SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE SEES AN INCREASE IN MERIT SCHOLARS

Southeast Missouri State University has netted its biggest class of National Merit scholars ever.

Thirty-eight students from 14 states have accepted National Merit scholarships to attend the university for the 1993-94 academic year.

The students are coming from Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Virginia, Montana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kentucky and Arkansas.

Even Admissions Director Juan Crites was surprised by the school's success in only its second year of actively recruiting such students.

"That (38) is probably three times more than we thought we were going to get," she said Monday.

Last fall, 13 National Merit students were enrolled at Southeast, in what was a record number for the school.

Crites said that counting incoming and returning students, Southeast will have about 50 Merit scholars on campus this fall.

She said Southeast has been officially accepted as a National Merit corporate sponsor in only its second year of recruiting Merit students, when normally there's a minimum waiting period of three years. The program is run by the National Merit Scholarship Corp.

Corporate sponsors receive more national publicity in terms of the Merit program, which should be helpful in the future in terms of recruiting students, Crites said.

National Merit scholars at Southeast receive full-ride scholarships.

"I think a lot of (our success) has to do with our improved reputation nationally," said Crites. "We are really starting to get some attention for some of our programs."

Many of the Merit scholars are attracted by Southeast's science and liberal arts programs, she said.

Two area residents are among the Merit scholars. They are Christopher Robertson of Cape Girardeau and Shawn Nanney of Leopold.

Robertson, a graduating senior from Cape Girardeau Central High School, is the son of Steve and Mary Robertson. Nanney, a graduating senior from Leopold High School, is the son of Donald and Kathleen Nanney.

There are various types of Merit scholarships, including college-sponsored, corporate-sponsored and those distributed on a state representational basis.

Some 115 private and 85 public higher education institutions, located in 42 states and the District of Columbia, are offering Merit scholarships.

Nationwide, college-sponsored scholarships provide between $250 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study.

Students in more than 19,000 U.S. high schools entered the 1993 Merit Program by taking the 1991 PSAT/NMSQT, a test that served as an initial screening of some 1.1 million participants. Last fall, about 15,000 of the top scorers were designated semifinalists.

Only semifinalists, representing about half of 1 percent of graduating seniors in every state, had an opportunity to advance to finalist standing and compete for Merit scholarships.

Winners of all Merit scholarships are chosen from a group of about 14,000 finalists.

The National Merit Scholarship Corp. is a not-for-profit corporation established in 1955 to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program, which operates without government funding.

In each annual competition, some 50,000 secondary school students are recognized for their academic performance, and more than 6,500 of the most distinguished academically are awarded Merit scholarships worth some $25 million.