National merit scholarships; The National Merit Scholarship Programme since 1955, high school students have competed academically each year for recognition and college scholarships under the National Merit Scholarship Programme. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®), a non-profit organisation that runs the programme without government funding, is in charge of it. The National Merit Scholarship Programme is open to high school students in the United States only if they meet the program’s published entry and participation requirements and pass the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which is used to screen out over 1.3 million applicants annually.
In order to compete for recognition and the 7,880 scholarships that will be awarded in 2025 by entering the National Merit Scholarship Programme:
In October 2023, take the PSAT/NMSQT exam.
fulfil additional prerequisites for programme admission.
The qualifying exam is the PSAT/NMSQT in 2023.
To be eligible for the 2025 programme. Participants in the programme are required to take the exam within the designated high school year (see to When to Take the Test). In 2025, the majority of applicants will graduate from high school and start college.
Although students’ high schools will not be providing them with paper PSAT/NMSQT Student Guides, they can peruse the guide online and obtain a PDF copy by clicking this link: PSAT/NMSQT Student Guide
The Competition for 2025 Starts in 2023
The qualifying exam for admission to the 2025 National Merit® Scholarship Programme is the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®).
(The National Merit Scholarship Programme will not accept scores from the PSAT/10 or PSAT/8/9.) From the time of entry in the autumn of 2023 until the spring of 2025, when scholarships for undergraduate studies at a college are given, the competition will last roughly eighteen months.
An estimated 1.3 million of the projected 3.5 million students who take the PSAT/NMSQT in 2023 will be eligible to enrol in this programme.
Admission Conditions
A student must fulfil each of the standards listed below in order to be admitted into the 2025 National Merit Programme.
A pupil needs to:
be registered as a high school student (traditional or home-schooled), making typical progress towards graduation or finishing their education by 2025, and intending to apply to colleges by the autumn of 2025 at the latest;
fulfil the citizenship criteria for students attending high school outside of the United States, or attend high school in the United States, the District of Columbia, or American commonwealths and territories; and
regardless of grade classification or educational pattern, take the 2023 PSAT/NMSQT in the designated high school programme year and no later than the third year in grades 9 through 12.
In order to establish their eligibility for the National Merit Scholarship Programme, pupils will be given the following three questions during the digital readiness check:
- Are you enrolled in a traditional or homeschooling high school programme?
Indeed.
No
2. When do you plan to graduate from high school, leave, and start a full-time college career?
2024
2025
2026
Following 2026
Not intending to go to college
3. How many years in total will you be in grades 9 through 12?
a year
two years
three years
four years
five or more years
In addition, test-takers from other countries will be asked the following query:
Do you hold American citizenship?
Indeed.
No
No, but I am a lawful permanent resident of the United States (or I have applied for permanent residence; my application has not been rejected), and I plan to become a citizen of the United States as soon as it is legally permissible.
Selecting Recipients of Scholarships
For the National Merit® Scholarships, only finalists will be taken into consideration. Merit Scholarship® grantees, or winners of the scholarship, will make up around half of the Finalists.
Winners are selected based upon on their achievements, talents, and abilities; gender, colour, ethnicity, or preferred religion are not taken into consideration.
The applicants selected for scholarships are those who are thought to have the best chance of succeeding in demanding college coursework and beyond.
A Merit Scholarship winner must notify NMSC® of their intention to (a) enrol in an American college or university that is accredited by a regional accrediting commission on higher education, and (b) enrol full-time in an undergraduate programme leading to a traditional baccalaureate degree in order to be eligible for a scholarship payment.
Stipends for NMSC scholarships are not refundable for enrollment at specific institutions with restricted training programmes or service academies.
A significant quantity of data about the Finalists is evaluated as part of the selection process, which is gathered from the students and their high schools.
The following are included: the student’s essay; evidence of leadership and involvement in school and community events; PSAT/NMSQT® results; the Finalist’s academic record (including course load and difficulty level, depth and breadth of subjects studied, and grades earned); and a written recommendation and description of the Finalist from a school official.
The winners of Special Scholarships for rewards from a business sponsor are chosen using the same procedure.
Scholarship Types
In 2025, about 740 Special Scholarships and 7,140 National Merit Scholarships of three varieties will be given out; the total amount of these 7,880 prizes will have a combined
worth more than $35 million. Different sorts of scholarships will be provided, however no student can receive more than one monetary award from NMSC.
$2500 National Merit Scholarships
The fact that each Finalist is given consideration for one and that winners are announced in each state and additional selection unit makes these awards special.
The same representational process used to identify Semifinalists determines the number granted in each state. In the competition for one of the 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships,
finalists face off against all other finalists in their state or selection unit.
A committee made up of high school counsellors and college admissions experts chooses the winners.
The $2,500 National Merit® $2500 Scholarship is awarded in one installment. Most of these scholarships are funded by NMSC’s own resources, but corporate sponsors also contribute.
Students must take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) in the designated year of their high school programme in order to be eligible for the National Merit® Scholarship Programme.
The year a student takes the PSAT/NMSQT to enter the competition is crucial since they can only compete (and be eligible for a scholarship) in one particular year.
The qualifying exam must be taken in the third year of high school, or junior year in grade 11, for students who intend to complete the traditional four years of high school (grades 9 through 12) before enrolling full-time in college.
In order to be eligible for the 2025 National Merit Scholarship, sophomores who take the PSAT/NMSQT in 2023 but want to spend four years in grades 9 through 12 will not be eligible.
can’t Take the PSAT or NMSQT?
You might still be eligible to apply for the 2025 National Merit® Scholarship Programme if you are unable to take the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) due to an illness, an emergency, or another qualifying situation.
Refer to the PSAT/NMSQT Student Guide’s Special Considerations on page 5 if the testing window hasn’t ended yet. It’s possible that you can reschedule or take the PSAT/NMSQT at a different high school.
If the PSAT/NMSQT testing window has ended, send a letter to NMSC requesting alternative way to apply for the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Programme as soon as you can, but no later than April 1, 2024.
Your name, residential address, and contact details should be included in the request for alternate admission.
