By CatholicPhilly Staff • Posted December 20, 2023

The Connelly Foundation has announced its 2024 Neumann Scholars awarding 52 eighth grade students from 35 regional parochial schools with four-year, full scholarships to attend any archdiocesan high school of their choosing.

This year, 569 students from 101 parochial schools in the five-county Greater Philadelphia region competed for the scholarships. Among the 52 scholarship recipients are five students from Bucks County, nine from Chester County, nine from Delaware County, 17 from Montgomery County, and 12 from Philadelphia County.

Our Lady of Mercy Regional Catholic School had the most winners with four students earning scholarships.

The highest scoring student was Evan Iyer of Saints Peter and Paul School in Chester County. Four students in the 2024 class of Neumann Scholars have older siblings who are previous recipients.

The scholarships are named for Saint John Neumann, the fourth bishop of Philadelphia, who is credited with founding more than 200 schools in the Archdiocese.

“The Connelly Foundation is proud to recognize the academic excellence of students in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and foster their continued success through the Neumann Scholars Program,” said Tom Riley, Chair of the Connelly Foundation Board.

“It’s an absolute joy to highlight these talented young learners and to recognize the exceptional guidance and instruction they’ve received from their teachers and the Archdiocese’s outstanding Catholic schools.”

Launched in 1995, the Neumann Scholars Program identifies scholastically gifted eighth grade students through an independently administered competitive examination. The criteria to sit for this year’s exam was a seventh grade Terra Nova standardized total test score of 90 or a cognitive skill index (CSI) score of 120, plus a 7th grade GPA of 92.0 or above. Students also needed to complete an application.

The 52 students awarded join 117 current Neumann Scholars attending Archdiocese high schools. Since its inception, the program’s graduates have enjoyed 100% college acceptance rate with more than $207 million offered in college scholarships, 115 National Merit Finalists, two National Merit Semi-Finalists, 228 National Merit Commended Students, an average SAT score of 1436 and a high SAT score of 1600 (combined math and critical reading).

For more information about the Neumann Scholars Program, please visit here.