Wayne Havrelly
KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Consumer Reporter

High school kids in our area have been receiving a letter in the mail congratulating them for their academic achievements.

Is this a legitimate honor or a scheme to get your money?

When kids open the letter they get excited and so do their parents.

Why not? It implies the student is very close to getting a college scholarship.

It sounds almost too good to be true.

"My son pulls it out of the mailbox and goes 'I'm on the National Honor Role'," says Melissa Murray, mother of Greg Murray, a high school student who received the letter.

Greg Murray just finished his freshman year at Clover Park High School in Lakewood. He thought the letter honoring him for his academic achievements might just be his ticket to a college scholarship. The letter promises to notify colleges.

"It would have made my mom a little happy for me," says Greg Murray.

"It says right off the top there that your son is one of the top four percent of students in the entire country and you're saying that's probably not the case, no it can't be. He passed, but not at an honor role level ... not even close!" exclaims Melissa Murray.

Apparently grades don't matter to the National Honor Roll, but money does. For $50, Greg can get a book with his name in it -- and even more if he wants his picture in the book.

Our investigation reveals the National Honor Roll is actually a private company registered in New York, but honorees send money to a Washington, D.C. address.

The company lists 14 professors and business leaders on its standards committee. We tried calling them all.

James Wade, a business professor at the University of Wisconsin, is one of them. I asked him by phone how students are selected and how much the company pays him to be on its committee. He said no comment and hung up.

No one else on the list called back.

Greg hoped the National Honor Roll would help him get into West Point.

"It would have helped me get into the academy and everything but I just have to find other ways to get there," says Greg.

"Because I can't afford to put him through and to offer him something like this and ask money for it, I think it's really unfair," says Greg's mother.

We checked with officials at several school districts and they believe the National Honor Roll is a waste of money.

Paying to get your child's name in the book doesn't make them an honor student and it certainly won't help them get into college.

Hard work and good grades are still the keys. School officials say that the letter belongs in the garbage.