Five Indian American high school students were named among the 403 Dell Scholars for 2017, who included Diwas Gautam of East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah; Rashmi Chataut of Millard North High School in Omaha, Neb.; Gulrukh Chughtai of Washington George High School in Philadelphia, Pa.; Aruna Dhungel of Cottonwood High School in Salt Lake City, and Shayaan Siddiqui of Senn High School in Chicago, Ill.

Gautam received a scholarship to attend Duke University in Durham, N.C., while Chataut is heading to Omaha-based Creighton University. Chughtai will be attending the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford in Bradford, Pa.; Dhungel will head to the University of Utah, and Siddiqui to Washington, D.C.-based Georgetown University.

The scholars were announced by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation. As part of the Dell Scholars Program, the foundation looks for "grit, potential and ambition."

The program, said a press release, looks for students who showed grit "by overcoming personal challenges in your life related to your family, school or community," potential by participating in college readiness programs, and "seeking out academic rigor" and ambition by "dreaming of obtaining a college degree."

It said that it will work with students to ensure they have the tools needed to complete college with a degree in hand.

"Become a Dell Scholar, and we’ll help make sure you also become a college graduate," it said.

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