More than a dozen Minnesota students are among the first 1,000 announced recipients of National Merit scholarships this spring, out of about 16,000 semifinalists who were considered for the prestigious prize.

The National Merit Scholarship Program honors students based on standardized test scores and academic achievements. The finalists, including the 15 from Minnesota, were announced Wednesday.

Each recipient will either receive a college scholarship worth $1,000 to $10,000 per year or a one-time prize worth $2,500 to $5,000.

Winners submitted a written essay and provided details about their extracurricular activities, school awards and leadership positions. In addition to an outstanding academic record, they also had to secure an endorsement or recommendation and earn a qualifying SAT or ACT score.

Wednesday's announcement included corporate-sponsored scholarship recipients, backed by companies including 3M, Textron Inc. and General Dynamics. National Merit Scholarship Corp. will announce subsequent rounds of winners May 11, June 1 and July 11.

The National Merit scholarship recipients from Minnesota are: Anna C. Thompson, Mahtomedi High School; Sreya Patri, Eden Prairie High School; Samir Sarma, Eden Prairie High; Annika M. Christensen, Lincoln High School in Thief River Falls; Benjamin J. Clemens, Hastings High School; Drew E. Wetterlind, Rosemount High School; Evan B. Erickson, homeschool from Lake Elmo; David Peng Xu, Wayzata High School; Damien T. Cudd, Trinity School at River Ridge in Eagan; Saanjhi Shahdadpuri, Wayzata High Miriam E. Marks, Rosemount High; Soren C. Sackreiter, Como Park High School in St. Paul; Elissa A. Frankel, Mounds Park Academy in St. Paul; Minda C. Li, Woodbury High School; and Minkai V. Li, Woodbury High.