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Filing year 2024

National Merit Scholarship Corporation

Evanston, Illinois·EIN 36-2307745·NTEE B820 · Education·3
Total revenue
$59.1M
Total assets
$160.7M
Total expenses
$44.7M
Reported officers
29
Mission

The mission of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) is to recognize and honor the academically talented students of the United States. NMSC accomplishes its mission by conducting nationwide academic scholarship programs. The enduring goals of NMSC's scholarship programs are: to promote a wider and deeper respect for learning in general and for exceptionally talented individuals in particular; to shine a spotlight on brilliant students and encourage the pursuit of academic excellence at all levels of education; and to stimulate increased support from individuals and organizations that wish to sponsor scholarships for outstanding scholastic talent.

Executive compensation, broken down

Form 990 · Schedule J · 8 reported individuals · Filing year 2024

Base salaryBonusOther compensationBenefits
Base salaryBonusOther compensationBenefitsExecutive compensation
$546k
$584k
Vice President and Treasurer
vice president
$251k
$268k
Scholar & Donor Svcs (until 1/24/25)
highest compensated employee
$204k
$219k
Exec. Director of IT
chief information officer
$187k
$200k
Vice President
vice president
$185k
$198k
Director of IT
chief information officer
$169k
$181k
Exec. Dir. of Sponsor Services
highest compensated employee
$165k
$177k
Exec. Dir. of Public Information
highest compensated employee
$159k
$170k

Teal figures restate each filed amount in 2026 dollars.

Estimated with Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI metro-area CPI-U, restating filed pay into May 2026 dollars. A restatement of past pay, not current or projected pay.

Plus 21 unpaid individuals.

Browse compensation in Education

Up 4%
from 2023

From $523k in 2023 to $546k in 2024.

$523k
2023
$546k
2024
In today's dollarsEst.
Up 1% in real terms$579k to $584k

Estimated with Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI metro-area CPI-U, restating filed pay into May 2026 dollars. A restatement of past pay, not current or projected pay.

Highest reported compensation in each year. Volunteer board members and partial-year payouts are filtered out.
Financial trend

Revenue and expenses over time

National Merit Scholarship Corporation reported revenue and expenses across 2 filing years.

RevenueExpenses
$39.1M
$46.2M
2023
$59.1M
$44.7M
2024
Total revenue and total expenses from IRS Form 990 filings.
Sector benchmark

What Education executives earn in Illinois

Comparable education organizations in Illinois pay their highest-earning executive a median of $78,409.

25th percentile
$28k
Median
$78,409
75th percentile
$173k
90th percentile
$307k

These are education sector-wide figures, not this organization's reported pay. Based on 877 organizations across 877 filings (2021 – 2024).

See full Education pay data for Illinois
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