Five Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) students have been named recipients of the 2026 corporate-sponsored scholarships from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, according to a May 15 announcement. These students are among approximately 700 high school seniors nationwide who received corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarships for this year.
The winners include Quinn T. Daignault from Dominion High School, who was awarded the National Merit AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals Scholarship and plans to pursue a career in finance; Claire Sophia Howard, also from Dominion High School, who received the National Merit Northrop Grumman Scholarship with an intended field in oncology; Skye J. Ocampo of Stone Bridge High School, recipient of the National Merit Leidos, Inc Scholarship for mechanical engineering; Shourya Prakash from Heritage High School, awarded the National Merit Geico Scholarship and interested in astrophysics; and Yash Sreepathi of Broad Run High School, recipient of the National Merit General Dynamics Corporation Scholarship with plans to study computer science.
Corporate sponsors provide these scholarships to students who reach finalist status in the competition and meet specific criteria such as being children of employees or residents in communities served by the company. The awards are often renewable for up to four years and offer annual stipends ranging from $1,000 to $10,000.
High school juniors entered this year’s program by taking the PSAT in 2024. In September 2025, more than 16,000 semifinalists were designated across states based on their proportion of graduating seniors nationally. Of those semifinalists, including 69 LCPS students, over 15,000 advanced to finalist standing after meeting requirements that included submitting applications with essays and academic records as well as recommendations from school officials.
This announcement marks NMSC’s first scholarship release for this year. Upcoming announcements will include recipients of $2,500 scholarships on May 13 and college-sponsored merit scholarship winners on June 3 and July 13.
