Twenty-two candidates - 12 males and 11 females - have been interviewed by the All Bahamas Merit Scholarship (ABMS) Committee, with each having the opportunity to be awarded $140,000 ($35,000 per year) in scholarship money intended for undergraduate studies, tenable at accredited international colleges and universities. The ABMS is the most prestigious national scholarship to be awarded to a single Bahamian candidate.

Ministry of Education officials in the Scholarship and Educational Loan Division said there is "diversity" in the candidate pool with applicant cumulative grade point averages (GPA) ranging between 3.70 and 4.19, and Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores ranging between 1,220 to 1,360.

"The competition is extremely fierce," said officials.

The candidate who will be awarded the 2023 ABMS will also be exceptionally well rounded and have applied or been accepted to an academically prestigious international college or university.

Candidates making the 2023 cut come from three islands - New Providence, Grand Bahama and Eleuthera.

Participating schools include Bishop Michael Eldon School, Queen's College, St. Augustine's College, St. John's College, Sunland Baptist Academy, St. Anne's School, and Central Eleuthera High School. The Central Eleuthera High School student is the only public school candidate.

Candidates are in a holding pattern, as they await the BGCSE (Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education) examinations national results which will play an integral role in who will be named the country's 29th ABMS recipient in 28 years.

"There is ardent competition among the candidates and it is possible that more than one student may be granted the ABM award in a particular year," said officials.

This is the exception rather than the rule, but came to be in 2019, when two ABMS were named for the first time in the award's history in Mahlia Neely, a 2019 Queen's College graduate, and Dehron Smith, a 2017 Nassau Christian Schools (NCS) graduate.

Neely and Smith were the 24th scholars to receive the ABMS award after its 1993 introduction.

Smith was a 2017 NCS graduate who received the award two years after graduating high school. He was the first NCS student to be awarded the ABMS.

Bahamian high school graduates may still be eligible for the scholarship if they continue in any high school extension program (approved by the committee) for a maximum of two years after graduating from an approved Bahamian high school. These students must apply during the second year of their studies. Candidates must have a cumulative GPA of 3.7 and above, a minimum of eight BGCSEs with at least eight A passes, SAT score of 1,220 or higher or an ACT (American College Test) score of 25 or higher.

Smith was a United World College (UWC) Hong Kong scholarship recipient. He was eligible to receive the ABMS in 2019, two years after graduating high school and after completing the UWC program which is considered an extension of a high school program. Applicants for the ABMS and National Merit Scholarships (NMS) can apply once the two UWC years are completed.

The ABMS is the highest level of merit scholarship awarded by the government. It is valued at $35,000 per annum for up to five years depending on the degree pursued and is valued between $140,000 over four years; or $175,000 over five years dependent on the degree program, and tenable at accredited universities locally or abroad.

NMS is the second highest level of merit scholarship awarded by the government, and can be awarded to multiple Bahamian applicants.

The scholarship has a maximum value of $25,000 per year for up to four years and is tenable at accredited universities locally or abroad.

To be considered for the ABMS award, applicants must have a GPA of 3.7 and above, a minimum of eight BGCSE's with at least eight A passes, have applied or been accepted to an academically prestigious accredited college or university, have an SAT score of 1,220 and above, demonstrate excellence in co-curricular activities, possess an unwavering dedication to improving the lives of Bahamians and demonstrate a strong moral character and the potential to lead.

To be considered for the NMS, applicants must have a GPA of 3.5 and above, achieve an SAT score of 1,220 or higher, possess a minimum of seven BGCSE A passes and have applied or been accepted to an academically prestigious accredited college or university.

The ABMS is a collaboration between the Central Bank of The Bahamas and the Ministry of Education.

All Bahamas Merit Scholars

2022 - Alexis Godet, University of South Florida, chemical engineering and music performance, classical violin

2021 - Maya Tilberg, University of Miami, biology

2020 - No award given

2019 - Mahlia Neely, Vassar College, English and Dehron Smith, Ithaca College, athletic training

2018 - Aaron Edgecombe, University of Miami, electrical engineering

2017 - Paloma Cartwright, McGill University, engineering/computer science

2016 - Simone Cambridge, McGill University, art history and urban studies

2015 - Domonic McDonald, University of Western Ontario, Canada, political science with a specialty in international relations

2014 - Gabrielle Moss, Johns Hopkins University, mathematics and statistics with a focus on actuarial science

2013 - Shannon Butler, University of St. Andrew's, medicine

2012 - Theophilus Moss, Johns Hopkins University, mechanical engineering

2011 - Jamia Moss, College of St. Benedict, biochemistry and Spanish

2010 - No award given

2009 - Jenna Chaplin, University of The Pacific, fine arts and psychology

2008 - Genymphas Higgs, Drexel University, biomedical engineering

2007 - Lisa Rodgers, Brown University, education

2006 - Kyle Chea, Vassar College, pre-med and foreign languages

2005 - Andrea Culmer, McGill University, chemistry and pre-Med

2004 - Sharelle Ferguson, Harvard University, social studies

2003 - Sebastian Hutchinson, University of Pennsylvania, finance and accounting

2002 - Peter Blair, Duke University, physics and mathematics

2001 - No award given

2000 - Ricardo Davis, Queen's University, Ontario, biochemistry

1999 - Ryan Knowles, Boston University, accounting and finance

1998 - Damian Archer, University of Western Ontario, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus - 1 year, chemistry, medicine

1997 - Jehan Unwala, Tufts University, international relations and economics

1996 - Rhys Powell, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, electrical engineering and computer science

1995 - Damian Forbes, Yale University, economics

1994 - No award given

1993 - Shireen Denise Donaldson, Johns Hopkins University, biochemistry

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