Officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation have announced the names of more than 16,000 semifinalists in the 71st Annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Over 1.3 million juniors from more than 20,000 high schools entered the 2026 competition by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors and includes only the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

These academically talented students now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for nearly 6,930 National Merit Scholarships worth almost $26 million, to be awarded next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition.

River City Science Academy is proud to recognize our three National Merit Semifinalists: Cole Carin, Markus Keller-Karatsonyi, and Joyce Tahhan. We are excited to support them throughout the application process and look forward to celebrating their continued success as they pursue recognition as National Merit Finalists and Scholarship recipients!