National Merit Scholars aren’t the only students benefiting from Iowa State’s vision to become the best.

Over the past year, students receiving the National Achievement Scholar Award and the National Hispanic Scholar Award also are being heavily recruited.

Tom Becker, coordinator for the National Merit and Achievement Scholars Program, said both of the awards are similar to the National Merit Scholar program, but are specifically for African-American and Hispanic students.

The National Achievement Scholar Program is coordinated by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, which also organizes the National Merit Scholar Program. Becker said students are awarded based on their PSAT and SAT scores and an application process.

Students take the tests during their junior year of high school but don’t find out if they have won the award until April of their senior year.

“The company we’re in is outstanding,” Becker said. “Everyone wants them; the sky’s the limit.”

Will Tinder, freshman in computer engineering, is one of the 24 Achievement Scholars enrolled at Iowa State.

Tinder said he was recruited by schools such as Yale and Washington University in St. Louis, but he believed Iowa State was a better choice.

“Iowa State had just as strong, if not stronger, engineering program,” he said. “And plus it was free, which is a big, big plus.”

Becker said many of the Achievement and Hispanic Scholars who enroll at Iowa State are awarded the George Washington Carver Scholarship, which provides tuition for eight semesters.

Dominique Camarillo, freshman in civil engineering, and Theresa Gonzalez, freshman in biology, are National Hispanic Scholars and recipients of the Carver Scholarship.

Both students received the award based on their PSAT scores, high school GPA and extracurricular activities. Becker said the award is coordinated by the College Board, which also administers Advanced Placement, PSAT and SAT exams.

Becker said the award is still fairly new, which is why the first eight Hispanic Scholars were just enrolled this year.

Camarillo, who is from San Antonio, said she started to receive mail from Iowa State during her senior year and visited the campus for the first time during her freshman orientation.

She said while the scholarship money was the driving force behind her decision, she is also very impressed with the support system and atmosphere at Iowa State.

“I’m really happy I came up here,” Camarillo said. “I love the campus; it’s very different from where I come from.”

Gonzalez also said she feels her decision to come to Iowa State was a good one.

“I’m not a number here,” she said. “All the right people that I need to know, they know me here.”

Gonzalez, a New York City native, was also recruited by Penn State and Vassar, but knew Iowa State had what she wanted.

“[My friends] laugh at me because I’m in the Midwest,” she said. “But they know it will get me where I need to be.”