Iowa State’s campaign to recruit high-quality students has produced good results for the second consecutive year.

In statistics recently released by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, Iowa State ranked 15th among all U.S. universities in enrollment of National Merit Scholars.

The 1997-98 freshman class contains 110 National Merit Scholars, the sixth-highest total at public universities.

There were 154 National Merit Scholars last year, eighth highest in the nation and fourth when comparing only public schools.

David Bousquet, assistant vice president of enrollment, said part of the reason for the decline was a decrease in scholarship funding from last year.

In 1996, each scholar was offered a renewable tuition, room and board scholarship.

The recruiting committee later realized they would be unable to sustain that level of support. They decided ISU could only offer 100 of these scholarships every year to National Merit Scholars.

Besides the full tuition, room and board scholarships, there are also 50 renewable $6,000 scholarships.

“These students are extremely talented, not only in the classroom, but also in almost every other area. We see many students as leaders of student organizations and excelling in both theater and music,” Bousquet said.

Bousquet predicted the number of National Merit Scholars would rise again in 1998.

“We plan on recruiting much more aggressively this year,” Bousquet said. “We feel that ISU offers a world-class education and the National Merit students will see that as well.”

John McCarroll, director of university relations, said the number of National Merit Scholars has a definite positive impact on the school. “It is a benefit to all students,” he said.

Bousquet agreed, saying they offer a potential for heightened conversation in the classroom.

National Merit Scholars must maintain a 2.5 GPA and be a full-time student, but Bousquet said a vast majority of the students have well above a 2.5 GPA.

The top three schools enrolling National Merit Scholars are Harvard/Radcliffe with 340, University of Texas at Austin (number one among public universities) with 251, and Rice University with 216.