St. Joseph’s Gnau is National Merit Scholarship semifinalist – irontontribune.com
Published 12:00 am Saturday, September 20, 2025
By Staff Reports
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has announced the names of more than 16,000 high school seniors who are semifinalists for the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program in 2026 and an Ironton student is among them.
Alex Gnau, a senior at Ironton St. Joseph High School, has been named a national semifinalist for 2026.
“I am honored to be selected as a semifinalist for the National Merit Scholarship competition, and I look forward to completing my application,” Gnau said. “I would like to thank everyone who has supported me, especially my teachers for preparing me for the PSAT and my parents for encouraging me.”
National winners will be announced in April 2026.
Approximately 6,390 National Merit Scholarships, worth more than $25 million, will be awarded next spring for students who advance to the finalist level.
Over 15,000 of the more than 16,000 semifinalists are expected to advance to the finalist level, with nearly half being awarded a National Merit Scholarship.
More than 1.3 million high school students in about 20,000 high schools entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as juniors.
The pool of 16,000 semifinalists includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state and represents less than 1 percent of high school seniors in the U.S.
To become a finalist, semifinalists must submit a scholarship application and essay detailing the entrant’s academic record, honors and awards received, participation in school and community activities, employment and demonstrated leadership abilities, with the application being endorsed by a high school official.
Semifinalists who advance to the finalist level will be notified in February of 2026.
Scholarships range from National Merit $2,500 Scholarships, corporation and business awarded scholarships and college and university awarded scholarships.
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