More than 1,600 high school seniors were named Semifinalists in the 40^{th annual National Achievement Scholarship Program, an academic competition for African American high school students. These scholastically promising young men and women now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for over 775 Achievement Scholarship awards, worth some $2.7, that will be offered next spring.}

More than 120,000 high school juniors from all parts of the U.S. entered the 2004 National Achievement Program. Semifinalists were designated within geographic regions and are the highest scoring program entrants in the states that make up each region. Here in Roxbury, John M. Cole has become a semifinalist in the National Achievement Scholarship Program.

As a semifinalist, John must fulfill a number of requirements to attain Finalist standing. Some of which include: having a record of high academic performance throughout high school, being endorsed and recommended by his school principal, earning SAT scores that confirm his earlier PSAT / NMSQT performance and writing a self descriptive essay. John, in conjunction with his guidance counselor, will complete a scholarship application in which they provide information about John’s participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities and educational goals. Three types of Achievement Scholarship awards will be offered in 2004. Every finalist will be considered for one of 450 National Achievement $2500 Scholarships that will be offered on a regional representation basis. Corporations, foundations and professional associations will finance about 125 corporate-sponsored Achievement Scholarship awards for Finalists who meet criteria set by the grantor association. In addition, approximately 200 college sponsored Achievement Scholarship awards are expected to be provided by colleges and universities for Finalists who attend the institution financing their awards.

National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) will release the names of winners of National Achievement $2500 Scholarships and corporate sponsored awards to the news media in late March. Recipients of college-sponsored scholarships will be announced in June.

The National Achievement Program was initiated in 1964 to honor outstanding African American youth and to increase their educational opportunities. “Since the program was founded, more than 24, 5000 academically talented participants have received Achievement Scholarship awards worth nearly $78 million,” commented a spokesperson for the NMSC, which conducts the program. NMSC is a private, not for profit organization that operates without government assistance.