Local students named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists

More than 16,000 students from around the nation were named semifinalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. Mehri Ghezel-Ayagh from Goshen High School and James Curtis from Warwick Valley High School were among them.

The semifinalists are academically talented high school seniors who 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. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 95 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing and about half will win a National Merit Scholarship.

Over 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.

To become a finalist, the semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the earlier performance on the qualifying test.

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2026. Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2500 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. 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 from April through July.