18-year-old Alabama high school senior set to graduate with $2 million in scholarship offers

Zyreuna Cousette, who has been plotting her academic career since middle school, was valedictorian at Aliceville High School with a 4.23 GPA.

Students across the country are receiving their degrees both in high school and in college. One high school senior in Alabama not only graduated with all her honors, but also secured millions in scholarship offers.

Zyreuna Cousette, a senior from Aliceville High School in Aliceville, Alabama, earned $2,000,047 from college and other programs. The 2026 class valedictorian is set to graduate with a 4.23 grade point average and she charted out her future dating back to middle school. A hard worker since elementary school, she took her studies more seriously as she approached high school.

“Honestly, I’ve been charting since my 8th grade year, well, actually since 7th grade. But my pathway started when I was in first grade ’cause I never made a ‘B,'” Cousette told local affiliate WBRC.

Cousette is planning to attend Howard University this fall, with aspirations to become an obstetrician-gynecologist.

Cousette’s achievement aligns with several Black students who have secured millions in scholarship funding and demonstrated high academic achievement before making their collegiate decisions. Earlier this month, California teen Lamont Newell, who grew up in unstable housing, was accepted to more than 65 colleges across the country and received a full scholarship to attend Columbia University to study engineering.

“We’ve always been moving my whole entire life,” Lamont told ABC News. “I couldn’t give you an age where we were homeless because it was from a time span, but those were the main issues.”

Newell credited after-school programs and extracurricular activities for offering some stability during his high school career. Now he plans to establish an institution that helps other Black students enter STEM fields for their careers after he graduates from the New York-based university.