National Merit Scholarship Program

Mission, Procedures, and Benefits

The NMSC is a nonprofit corporation founded in 1955. Its mission includes identifying and honoring academically talented students. The primary program of the corporation is the National Merit Scholarship Program, which recognizes approximately 50,000 students annually.

A new cycle of the National Merit Scholarship Program begins each October when high schools around the country administer the PSAT/NMSQT to approximately 1.4 million students, most of whom are high school juniors. In December, the students receive their scores. Each score report includes a selection index score, which is the total of the student's critical reading, math, and writing [Page 630]scores, each of which ranges from 20 to 80 points. A perfect selection index score is 240. In April, the NMSC uses a selection index cut point, usually near 200, to choose the top 50,000 scorers in the nation.

The following September, the NMSC names approximately 16,000 of those top students as semifinalists, and sends letters of commendation to the other 34,000 students. The selection index cut point varies by state, from near 200 to over 220. The NMSC varies the cut point in order to ensure that equal percentages of students are chosen from each state. Special rules determine cut points for boarding school students.

The NMSC invites each semifinalist to fill out an application form, write an essay, submit additional test scores, and send transcripts in order to advance in the scholarship competition. Of the 16,000 semifinalists, 15,000 advance to finalist status. Each year approximately 8,200 of the finalists win merit scholarships provided by the NMSC, corporations, and colleges. The total value of the National Merit scholarships awarded in 2007 exceeded 44.7 million dollars.

Some colleges and universities give full scholarships to students who advance to semifinalist status. The NMSC's 2007–2008 annual report shows which institutions attracted the largest numbers of National Merit awardees in 2008: Harvard University (285), the University of Texas at Austin (281), University of Southern California (254), Northwestern University (239), University of Chicago (222), Yale University (213), University of Oklahoma (178), Princeton University (175), Rice University (169), and the University of Florida (166). Carleton College has a high percentage of National Merit scholars in its student body; The New York Times reported that in 2006 Carleton admitted 99 National Merit scholars to its freshman class of 500.

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