Six Vanguard High School students have been named semifinalists in the 72nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
The Vanguard students are Nirav Borade, Miles Burdette, Gabrielle Javelona, Nektarios Lavdas, Michael Ribay and Ifeanyichukwu Samuel.
The National Merit Scholarship Corp., a nonprofit, announced the names of over 16,000 semifinalists on Sept. 9. Semifinalists are eligible to compete for about 6,700 National Merit Scholarships worth roughly $24 million that will be offered in spring 2027.
More than 1.2 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools entered the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, 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.
The program's finalists will compete for three types of scholarships:
- 2,500 National Merit Scholarships worth $2,500 will be awarded on a state-representational basis.
- About 700 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by about 120 corporations and business organizations for students who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located.
- About 140 colleges and universities are expected to fund about 3,500 Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.
To become a finalist, semifinalists must submit a detailed scholarship application, endorsed by a high school official, that includes their academic record, school and community involvement, leadership experience, employment history, honors and awards, an essay, and SAT or ACT scores.
The 2027 National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced beginning in April 2027 and concluding in July.
Jim Ross contributed
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: 6 Vanguard H.S. students named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists
