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Eight Fairfax County Public Schools students from six high schools have secured college-sponsored 2026 Merit Scholarship awards, joining more than 2,500 National Merit Finalists selected for scholarships funded by higher education institutions.
The recipients and their expected career fields are:
- Daniel Ahn, Centreville High School, music education — Florida State University Scholarship.
- Eesha Kaushik, Langley High School, medicine — Emory University Scholarship.
- Atul Kotamraju, McLean High School, bioengineering — Vanderbilt University Scholarship.
- Karis Kim, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, medicine — Wheaton College Scholarship.
- Payton Morris, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, computer science — Grinnell College Scholarship.
- Sugirthan Nagappan Arun, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, biomedical engineering — University of Texas at Dallas Scholarship.
- Elias Falke, Fairfax High School, actuarial science — Liberty University Scholarship.
- Jaeden Pangaribuan, Westfield High School, computer engineering — Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering Scholarship.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation evaluated candidates using their academic records, essays, extracurricular activities, awards and leadership roles. Reviewers also considered SAT scores confirming strong test performance and recommendations and endorsements from high school officials.
Each scholarship provides between $500 and $2,000 per year for as many as four years of undergraduate study at the institution funding the award.
The final group of National Merit Scholarship recipients from the class of 2026 is scheduled to be announced in July.