70th Annual National Merit Scholarship Awardees

May 7, 2025

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®) has begun announcing its 2025 scholarship winners. These Merit Scholars may receive one of three types of awards: National Merit $2500 Scholarships, corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarships, or college-sponsored Merit Scholarships. 

Last fall, NMSC named more than 16,000 Semifinalists. Over 15,000 students met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. By the conclusion of the 2025 program, more than 6,930 Finalists will have earned the “Merit Scholar” title and received a total of nearly $26 million in college scholarships.

HCS did not have any students win corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarships. College-sponsored Merit Scholarships will be announced in June and July. We do have four students from HCS Scholars Academy High who were named National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners, however!

National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners are the Finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. 

These Scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the Finalists and their high schools: the academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®); contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by the Finalist; and a recommendation written by a high school official.