Auburn enrolls record number of National Merit ScholarsPublished: Thursday, January 26, 2012, 3:18 PM Updated: Thursday, January 26, 2012, 3:32 PMBy al.com staff AUBURN, Alabama – Auburn University is ranked second nationally out of 145 public institutions in the enrollment of National Merit Scholars, the university’s Office of Enrollment Services said in a statement today.The rankings are included in the recently released 2010-2011 National Merit Scholarship Corporation Annual Report.Auburn is first in the Southeastern Conference among public institutions and second, behind Vanderbilt, among all Southeastern Conference institutions. Auburn ranked ninth overall out of the 359 institutions where these scholars are enrolled, with Chicago, USC, Harvard, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Washington-St. Louis, Oklahoma and Yale ranked higher. Only Oklahoma was ranked above Auburn among all public institutions.Auburn enrolled 181 new scholars this summer and fall, which is a 35 percent increase over last year’s 134. Auburn moved up from third in the SEC and 16th overall last year.Auburn’s 181 National Merit Scholars are from 23 states and are enrolled in all of the university’s 10 undergraduate colleges and schools.“This achievement reflects a commitment by Auburn University to enroll some of the most outstanding students our state and nation have to offer,” said Velda Rooker, director of university scholarships.Auburn also enrolled a record 45 National Achievement Scholars from 19 states.The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is an independent, not-for-profit organization that conducts the National Merit Scholarship Program and the National Achievement Scholarship Program as annual competitions for recognition and undergraduate scholarships.
Combine this with the fact that probably the two biggest names in the tech world, Jimmy Wales and Tim Cook, are Auburn alums, and I'm pretty smug about my alma mater.
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