Fourteen high school seniors across Baldwin County are among the more than 16,000 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists.

Names were released Wednesday, Sept. 11, for the 70th-annual rendition of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation's (NMSC) program, including four from Daphne High School, three from Spanish Fort High School, two from Fairhope High School, and one each from Bayside Academy, St. Michael Catholic High School, Gulf Shores High School, Robertsdale High School and a homeschooled/online school student from Spanish Fort. They will continue in the competition for some 6,870 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring.

About 95% of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, a news release said, and approximately half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.
NMSC, a nonprofit that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 280 business organizations, higher education institutions and individual donors that share NMSC's goals of honoring the nation's scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.

STEPS IN THE 2025 COMPETITION

Over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state's percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

To become a finalist, the semifinalist and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the semifinalist's academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment and honors and awards received. 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.

From over 16,000 semifinalists, more than 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level, and in February they will be notified of this designation.

NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIPS

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2025.

Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 770 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 130 corporations and business organizations for finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor's employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 150 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 3,600 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.