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Updated: September 11, 2025 @ 5:38 am

EVANSTON, Illinois — High school students from throughout the Tri-State area were among more than 16,000 semifinalists in the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program announced earlier this week by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
According to a NMSC news release, these academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,930 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring.
Local students named finalists in West Virginia were:
Cabell Midland High
Covenant School
Lincoln County High School
Huntington High School
Hurricane High School
St. Joseph Central High School
Winfield High School
Homeschool/Online school
Local students named semifinalists in Kentucky were:
Paul G. Blazer High School
Russell High School
Local students named semifinalists in Ohio were:
St. Joseph Central High School, Ironton
According to the NMSC release, more than 1.3 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants.
The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
About 95% of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and approximately half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title, the release states.
To become a finalist, the semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, providing information about the students’ academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment and honors and awards received.
Students will be notified if they are finalists in February 2026.
From the pool of finalists, Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies.
Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be off ered in the spring of 2026.
Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis.
About 830 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 150 corporations and business organizations for finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located.
In addition, about 150 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 3,600 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.
National Merit Scholarship winners of 2026 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July.
These scholarship recipients will join more than 382,000 others who have earned the Merit Scholar title.
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