Three exceptional high school seniors from the Tri-Cities were named 2025 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists this month, and have the opportunity to earn thousands of dollars in scholarships next year.
They are among the highest scoring PSAT students in Washington state.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced Sept. 11 the names of more than 16,000 semifinalists. These talented students will have the opportunity to compete for 6,870 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million in the spring.
Most of the semifinalists will go on to become finalists. But only about half of National Merit finalists will win scholarships and earn the title of Merit Scholars — a designation that has been awarded to only 382,000 students in 70 years.
The class of 2025 semifinalists from the Tri-Cities are:
Kamiakin High School
Hanford High School
These Tri-Cities students — and about 1.3 million of their peers across the country — entered the program by taking the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test, or PSAT , last fall.
The 16,000 semifinalists represent less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors and are among the highest-scoring test takers. The number of semifinalists per state is proportional to the state’s percentage of total graduating seniors nationwide.
This year, more than 300 semifinalists are from Washington state, according to the Seattle Times .
To become a finalist, students must submit a detailed application that lists their academic record, participation in scholastic and extracurricular activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, as well as any honors and awards.
“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 student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test,” reads a news release from the corporation.
About 15,000 of the 16,000 semifinalists are expected to become finalists.
Each finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit scholarships, worth $2,500, as well as 770 corporate-sponsored scholarships for meeting specific criteria and 3,600 college-sponsored scholarships from about 150 institutions of higher learning.
National Merit Scholarship winners will be revealed in four announcements between April and July.
In April earlier this year, three students from Richland and Pasco were named corporate scholarship winners and received funds from Battelle Memorial Institute , the nonprofit that manages the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland under a DOE contract.
Established in 1955, the National Merit Scholarship program is among the most prestigious recognition for student achievement in the U.S. It’s work to award exceptionally able students has provided some half-million scholarships worth billions to future leaders.
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