Graduates from six area high schools will attend USC with financial help from the university.

GLENDALE ? The skyrocketing cost of attending a prestigious university was just cut in half for seven area students.

The University of Southern California awarded presidential scholarships to the seven National Merit Scholarship finalists from Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge and Burbank, officials announced Monday. The scholarships represent more than $64,000 over four years for each student.

"If a student is selected by National Merit as a finalist and we are their first-choice school, we guarantee them a presidential scholarship from USC, which is half tuition," said L. Katharine Harrington, USC's dean of admission and financial aid. "We want the best and the brightest and we are proud to have students who are finalists. We think we have a lot to offer students and this is one of the ways we seek to attract some of the best."

Flintridge Preparatory School graduate Ankur Mehra; La Cañada High School graduates Megan Teodo and Nicole Choi; Julia Terr-Malloy ? a graduate of Providence High School in Burbank; Hoover High School graduate Andrew Bagwell; Clark Magnet High School graduate Mkrtich Ohanyan; and Philip Kim, a La Cañada Flintridge resident who attends Pasadena Polytechnic High School, all won the prestigious presidential scholarships.

They were seven of more than 2,100 winners of Merit Scholarship awards financed by colleges and universities across the country, said Elaine Detweiler of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Only 4,500 students nationwide were named National Merit Scholarship finalists, she said. All of the other finalists won scholarships from philanthropic organizations, she said.

The jump from La Cañada Flintridge to USC is a common one, Choi said.

She knows of at least 16 other La Cañada High School students who will attend USC as freshmen in the fall.

"I know where their dorms are in freshmen housing, so I'm sure I'm going to be seeing them," said Choi, who also received a one-time grant from USC for about $14,000.

"I chose USC because of the scholarship and I want to stay closer to home, so it sounded good. I was really excited, and I know my parents were very excited, too." Teodo said being a Merit Scholarship Finalist made her a more competitive applicant, which gave her the edge to get into USC.