The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for high school students in the United States. Each year, about 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools enter the National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). Of those 1.6 million entrants, about 50,000 are named National Merit Semifinalists, and about 16,000 of those Semifinalists advance to Finalist standing. In 2023 there were over 16,000 high school juniors named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists.
National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists are selected based on their exceptional academic performance. To be considered, students must have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm their earlier performance on the PSAT/NMSQT. Semifinalists must advance to Finalist standing in order to continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships. To do so, Semifinalists must have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm their earlier performance on the PSAT/NMSQT. Finalists will be notified by mail in February. In addition to the National Merit Scholarships, Finalists may also be considered for Special Scholarships sponsored by corporations and businesses.
