Eight FCPS Students Earn 2026 National Merit College-Sponsored Scholarships Eight Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) students from six high schools have been named winners of 2026 Merit Scholarship awards by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). The students are part of a group of more than 2,500 National Merit® Finalists chosen to receive scholarships financed by higher education institutions. Winners of the scholarships, with their probable career fields in parentheses, are:
- Daniel Ahn of Centreville High School (music education), National Merit Florida State University Scholarship.
- Eesha Kaushik of Langley High School (medicine), National Merit Emory University Scholarship.
- Atul Kotamraju of McLean High School (bioengineering), National Merit Vanderbilt University Scholarship.
- Karis Kim of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) (medicine), National Merit Wheaton College Scholarship.
- Payton Morris of TJHSST (computer science), National Merit Grinnell College Scholarship.
- Sugirthan Nagappan Arun of TJHSST (biomedical engineering), National Merit University of Texas at Dallas Scholarship.
- Elias Falke of Fairfax High School (actuarial science), National Merit Liberty University Scholarship.
- Jaeden Pangaribuan of Westfield High School (computer engineering), National Merit Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering Scholarship. Each scholarship winner was evaluated on his or her academic record; an essay and information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions; SAT scores that confirmed outstanding test performance; and a recommendation and endorsement from a high school official. Each award provides between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the recipient’s scholarship. The final group of NMSC scholarship recipients from the class of 2026 will be named in July.