National winners will be announced starting in April 2026. 

National winners will be announced starting in April 2026. 
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®) has named 12 students from Richland School District Two as semifinalists in the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically distinguished students are among 16,000 semifinalists nationwide who now can compete for approximately 6,930 scholarships valued at nearly $26 million.
Selection as a semifinalist is an exceptional academic honor, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors. More than 1.3 million juniors from approximately 20,000 high schools entered the 2026 competition by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). About 95 percent of semifinalists are expected to advance to the finalist level, and roughly half of the finalists will ultimately earn the title of National Merit Scholar, according to the NMSC.
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