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Updated: September 11, 2025 @ 8:22 am
Three local high school seniors have been named semifinalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program, placing them among the top academic performers in the nation.
Drake Cersey of Jackson County High School, along with Rishav Rajbhandari and Emmett Trippe of Jefferson High School, are among more than 16,000 semifinalists announced this week by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). The students now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for approximately 6,930 scholarships worth nearly $26 million, to be awarded next spring.
The semifinalists were selected from more than 1.3 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools nationwide who entered the 2026 competition by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The semifinalist pool represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest-scoring students in each state.
To become finalists, students must submit a detailed application that includes their academic records, participation in school and community activities, leadership roles, employment, and honors. They must also be endorsed by a school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm their earlier test performance.
About 95 percent of semifinalists are expected to advance to finalist standing, and approximately half of those will go on to receive a scholarship and the prestigious title of Merit Scholar.
Founded in 1955, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation is a nonprofit organization that operates without government assistance. Scholarships are funded by the NMSC and about 300 sponsoring businesses, colleges, universities and individual donors.
Winners of the 2026 scholarships will be announced in four nationwide news releases from April through July.
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