Washington, May 14 (IANS): Indian-American students accounted for more than 10 per cent of the 55th class of the 2019 US Presidential Scholars, according to the Department of Education.

Last week, the Department announced the names of 161 students selected as the 2019 US Presidential Scholars, the American Bazaar reported on Monday.

The Presidential Scholars are selected each year by the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars.

High school seniors across the country are chosen on the basis of academic excellence, essays, community service and technical achievements.

The Indian-American students are from Georgia, New Jersey, Missouri, Minnesota, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and

Wisconsin.

In 2018, out of the 161 students selected as Presidential Scholars, 26 were South Asian Americans.

The winners this year were selected from 3.6 million high school seniors expected to graduate this summer.

A ceremony to honour the recipients will be held in Washington on June 23 where each awardee will receive a Presidential Scholar Medallion.