Brighton High School student Kyle C. Fick is among the more than 16,000 students nationwide to achieve this honor. Over 1.3 million students nationwide entered the 2024 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The semifinalists represent less than 1 percent of all U.S. high school seniors and are the highest-scoring entrants in each state.
Semifinalists who wish to compete for a National Merit Scholarship must advance to the finalist round of the program. To be named a finalist, a semifinalist must complete a detailed application and essay that proves their academic record, participation in school and community activities, leadership abilities, honors, and awards received and be endorsed by a school official.
Of the semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. Merit Scholar designees are selected based on their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.
National Merit Scholarships
Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2024. Every Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit® $2,500 Scholarships awarded on a state-representational basis. About 840 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 160 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 160 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 3,800 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution. National Merit Scholarship winners of 2024 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join nearly 375,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.
