According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, Vanderbilt University is No. 14 in the nation among schools offering the most scholarships to National Merit Scholars in 2008. Vanderbilt awarded 147 merit finalists in the 2008-2009 academic year.

University of Texas in Austin was ranked second in fall 2008, sponsoring 281 merit scholarships. Only Harvard had more merit scholars totaling 285, according to The Chronicle article.

Next year, however, University of Texas in Austin will stop awarding merit finalists, “instead devoting more money to need-based aid amid mounting budget pressures”.

Douglas Christiansen, vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions, said Vanderbilt would not have to cut back from this program. Of the 147 merit scholarships awarded last year, Vanderbilt sponsored 107 of them, the other 40 were sponsored by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

“We are always looking at the balance between need initiatives versus merit initiatives,” Christiansen said. “(University of Texas at Austin’s) decision was probably more of a fiscal decision at their institution. From our end it doesn’t look like we would alter that program.”

There are two ways to receive national merit scholarships. If a student is chosen as a merit scholar by the NMSC, the student receives the money straight from the corporation and can take the scholarship to any school. The other way to receive merit scholarships is if an eligible student selects a school as their first choice of colleges and then the college pays for the scholarship.

To view the full list of schools, click here.