Officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of more than 16,000 Semifinalists in the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Villa Madonna Academy is proud to announce that senior Drew Thomas of Villa Hills was named a National Merit Semifinalist!
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), 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. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring.