St. Mary’s Dominican High School graduates Livy Eastman and Grace Mandella have accepted the National Merit University of Alabama Scholarships. This college-sponsored Merit Scholarship award is funded by The University of Alabama for exclusive use at that institution.

As National Merit Finalists for 2025, these two Dominican graduates were among 15,000 of the highest scorers, representing less than one percent of the nation’s high school graduating seniors. Finalists had the opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,870 National Merit Scholarships.

NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 400 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.