St. Ignatius Chesterton Academy Senior Therese Biese Named National Merit Scholar Finalist

February 27, 2023

KAUKAUNA, Wis. (February 27, 2023) – St. Ignatius Chesterton Academy Senior Therese G. Biese has been named a 2023 National Merit® Scholar Finalist.

The National Merit® Scholarship Program, initiated in 1955, honors the nation’s individual students who show exceptional academic ability, pursuit of academic excellence, and potential for success in college studies.

This rigorous recognition program begins in a student’s junior year of high school, when millions of juniors take the Preliminary SAT/ National Merit® Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®,) which serves as an initial screen of program entrants. Therese was among the top scoring students in the nation for that qualifying test, and she ranked in the top one percent of U.S. high school seniors for academic achievement. She, along with 15,000 others nationwide, have met all requirements to advance to Finalist standing in the competition. The selection of 7,250 National Merit® Scholarship winners is now in progress, and they will be announced between April and July of this year.

Among other achievements and accolades, Therese also was named a 2022 QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship Recipient and will attend the University of Notre Dame this fall on a full four-year scholarship through that prestigious national program.

St. Ignatius Chesterton Academy, which serves students grades 9 through 12, opened in fall 2021 in Kaukauna. Therese is the high school’s first National Merit honoree.

For more information about the National Merit® Scholarship Program, visit www.nationalmerit.org.