History
National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®) established the National Achievement® Scholarship Program in 1964, contemporaneously with the passage of the Civil Rights Act, specifically to encourage Black American youth to continue their education. NMSC conducted the privately financed academic competition from 1965 to 2015. The program's defining purposes were to:
- honor scholastically promising Black American high school students and increase their educational opportunities; and
- provide Achievement Scholarship® awards and the accompanying Achievement Scholar® title to a substantial number of the most outstanding participants in each annual competition.
The National Achievement Scholarship Program was created to increase educational opportunities for academically accomplished Black American students and encourage colleges to broaden their recruiting efforts. The program also strove to encourage academic success among Black Americans of all ages by creating visible role models and providing a goal toward which younger students could work.
In the half century NMSC administered the National Achievement Scholarship Program, more than 4.6 million Black Americans entered the program, and approximately 228,000 received program recognition. Of those honored, more than 34,000 of the most outstanding participants were chosen to receive National Achievement Scholarship awards worth about $108 million and earned the Achievement Scholar title.
Transition
With the conclusion of the 2015 program, the National Achievement Scholarship Program transitioned to a new program. In 2016, NMSC forged a relationship with UNCF, the nation's largest and most effective minority education organization, to establish the newly designed UNCF Achievement Capstone Program. The new program, which is administered by UNCF and underwritten by the National Achievement Scholarship Program, honors and awards financial assistance to high-achieving, underrepresented college graduates. NMSC met the financial obligations of all National Achievement Scholarships awarded through the 2015 competition, and in 2021, it granted the remaining National Achievement Scholarship Program funds to UNCF, which carries on the name and legacy of the National Achievement Scholarship Program through the Achievement Capstone Program.
Since the National Achievement Scholarship Program funds have been redirected for awards for college graduates, Black American high school students no longer have the opportunity to enter the National Achievement Scholarship Program and compete for Achievement Scholarship awards. However, they can still compete for Merit Scholarship® awards when they enter the National Merit® Scholarship Program, and they may be eligible to receive awards from UNCF once they graduate from college.
High school participation and sponsor support
NMSC is sincerely grateful to educators in high schools across the United States who have assisted in providing an opportunity for Black American students to participate in the National Achievement Scholarship Program. NMSC would also like to thank the many sponsors of the National Achievement Scholarship awards for their long-standing support and encourage current sponsors in both the National Merit Program and the National Achievement Program, as well as other corporations, foundations, and business organizations, to support the Achievement Capstone Program administered by UNCF.
Legacy
Over the past half century, National Achievement Scholars have made significant contributions to society, and have become astronauts, neurosurgeons, educators, and musicians. They have worked toward the betterment of the United States through service in our military, our classrooms, and the nation's capital. The legacy of the National Achievement Scholarship Program is great, and we at NMSC are proud of its history. We continue to celebrate the 51 successful years of the National Achievement Scholarship Program, and we are very excited to know that our partnership with UNCF will carry on this rich legacy into the future.
Achievement Scholar® awardees you may know
Alexa I. Canady
1967
FMC Achievement Scholarship
First African-American female neurosurgeon, former Chief of Neurosurgery at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan
Evelynn M. Hammonds
1971
National Achievement Scholarship
Former Dean of Harvard College, The Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science and Professor of African and African-American Studies at Harvard University
Mae Carol Jemison
1973
Bell Telephone Laboratories Achievement Scholarship
Retired NASA astronaut, physician, first African-American woman in space
Lisa P. Jackson
1979
Nabisco Achievement Scholarship
Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives for Apple, Inc. and former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
Benjamin Alvin Drew
1980
National Achievement Scholarship
Colonel in the United States Air Force, Air Force pilot, NASA astronaut
Susan E. Rice
1982
National Achievement Scholarship
Director of the United States Domestic Policy Council, Distinguished visiting Research Fellow at American University’s School of International Service, Former United States Security Advisor and former U.S. Ambassador for the United Nations
Melissa Harris-Perry
1991 National Achievement $2000 Scholarship
Maya Angelou Presidential Chair in Politics and International Affairs at Wake Forest University, former Editor-at-Large at Elle.com, author, former host of MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry show
Terence S. Carter
1997
National Achievement Scholarship
Co-President and Head of Television at Westbrook Studios, former Executive Vice President, Drama and Comedy Development for Twentieth Century Fox Television
Lauren A. Underwood
2004
National Achievement Scholarship
United States Representative for Illinois’s 14th Congressional District
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