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The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and
college scholarships that began in 1955. High school students enter the National Merit
Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying
Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which serves as an initial screen of approximately 1.6 million entrants
each year, and by meeting published program entry and participation requirements.

To enter the National Merit Scholarship Program and compete for recognition and 8,700
scholarships to be offered in 2021:

• Take the PSAT/NMSQT in October 2019.

• Meet other entry requirements.

Program entrants must take the test in the specified year of the high school program
(see page 6). The 2019 PSAT/NMSQT is the qualifying test for entry to the 2021
program. Most entrants will complete high school and enroll in college in 2021.



The National Merit® Scholarship Program is an annual
academic competition among high school students for
recognition and college scholarships. The program is
conducted by National Merit Scholarship Corporation
(NMSC), a not-for-profit organization that operates
without government assistance.

The 2019 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship
Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) is the qualifying
test for entry to the 2021 National Merit Program. (The
PSAT™ 10 and PSAT™ 8/9 will NOT be considered for
entry to the National Merit Scholarship Program.) The
competition will span about 18 months from entry in the
fall of 2019 until the spring of 2021 when scholarships
for college undergraduate study will be awarded. It is
expected that about 4 million students will take the
PSAT/NMSQT in 2019, and approximately 1.6 million
of them will meet requirements to enter this program.



To enter the 2021 National Merit Program, a student
needs to meet all of the following requirements. A
student must:

1. be enrolled as a high school student (traditional
or homeschooled), progressing normally toward
graduation or completion of high school by 2021,
and planning to accept admission to college no later
than the fall of 2021;

2. attend high school in the United States, District of
Columbia, or U.S. commonwealths and territories;
or meet the citizenship requirements for students
attending high school outside the United States (see
below);



To participate in the National Merit Program, students
must take the PSAT/NMSQT in the specified year of
their high school program. Because a student can
participate (and be considered for a scholarship) in
only one specific competition year, the year in which
the student takes the PSAT/NMSQT to enter the
competition is very important.

1. Students who plan to spend the usual four years in
high school (grades 9 through 12) before entering
college full time must take the qualifying test in
their third year of high school (grade 11, junior year).
Sophomores who take the 2019 PSAT/NMSQT
but plan to spend four years in grades 9 through
12 will not meet entry requirements for the 2021
National Merit Program. They must take the
PSAT/NMSQT again in 2020 (when they are
juniors) to enter the competition that will end
when scholarships are awarded in 2022, the year
they will complete high school and enter college.

2. Students who plan to leave high school early to
enroll in college full time after spending three years
or less in grades 9 through 12 usually can participate
in the National Merit Program if they take the
PSAT/NMSQT before they enroll in college. To
enter the competition for awards offered in 2021,
these students must be in either the next-to-last or
the last year of high school when they take the 2019
PSAT/NMSQT:

a. if they are in the next-to-last year of high school
when they take the 2019 PSAT/NMSQT, awards
will be offered as they are finishing their last year
of high school; or

b. if they are in their last year of high school when
they take the 2019 PSAT/NMSQT, awards will
be offered the year after they have completed
high school.



Students who plan to participate in a postsecondary enrollment options program (through
which they enroll simultaneously in both high school
and college) must take the qualifying test in their
third year of high school (grade 11, junior year). To
enter the competition that ends when scholarships
are offered in 2021, these students must be in their
third year of high school when they take the 2019
PSAT/NMSQT, the same as all other students who
plan to spend four years in grades 9 through 12.
The high school determines whether a student is
participating in a post-secondary enrollment options
program and certifies the students status.

4. Students who plan to take five years to complete
grades 9 through 12 can participate in the National
Merit Program if they take the PSAT/NMSQT in
the third year of high school and again in the fourth
year. These students Selection Index scores will not
be eligible for the program until a written request
for entry to the competition is approved by NMSC.
The request should include the students name, high
school name and location, year the student began
high school, year the student will complete high
school, and a brief explanation of the students
educational pattern.

NMSC will use the students Selection Index score
from the PSAT/NMSQT taken in the students third year
of grades 9 through 12 to determine the expected level
of recognition. In order to be recognized in the fifth
(final) year of high school, the student must take
the PSAT/NMSQT again in the fourth year, and
earn a qualifying Selection Index score at or above
the level achieved on the third year test. The level
of recognition a student receives cannot exceed the
level earned on the qualifying test taken during the
students third year in grades 9 through 12, the year
in which all other competitors are considered.



NMSC uses PSAT/NMSQT Selection Index scores
(calculated by doubling the sum of the Reading,
Writing and Language, and Math Test scores) as an
initial screen of some 1.6 million program entrants.
The 2019 Selection Index scores of all students who
meet entry requirements for the 2021 program will be
considered. In the spring of 2020, NMSC will ask high
school principals to identify any errors or changes in the
reported eligibility of their high scorers (students whose
Selection Index scores will qualify them for recognition
in the fall of 2020).

Commended Students. In September 2020, more than
two-thirds (about 34,000) of the high scorers will be
designated Commended Students. They will be named
on the basis of a nationally applied Selection Index
qualifying score that may vary from year to year.
In recognition of their outstanding ability and
potential for academic success in college, these students
will be honored with Letters of Commendation sent to
them through their high schools. Although Commended
Students will not continue in the competition for
National Merit Scholarships, some may be candidates
for Special Scholarships offered by corporate sponsors. NMSC will notify those candidates in
November 2020.

Semifinalists. Some 16,000 of the high scorers,
representing less than 1 percent of the nations high
school graduating seniors, will qualify as Semifinalists.
Only Semifinalists will have an opportunity to advance
in the competition for Merit Scholarship® awards.
NMSC will notify Semifinalists of their standing and
send scholarship application materials to them through
their high schools in September 2020. Their names will
be sent to regionally accredited four-year U.S. colleges
and universities and released to local news media for
public announcement in mid-September.

NMSC designates Semifinalists in the program on a
state-representational basis to ensure that academically
able young people from all parts of the United States
are included in this talent pool. Using the latest data
available, an allocation of Semifinalists is determined for
each state, based on the states percentage of the national
total of high school graduating seniors. For example,
the number of Semifinalists in a state that enrolls
approximately two percent of the nations graduating
seniors would be about 320 (2 percent of the 16,000
Semifinalists).

NMSC then arranges the Selection Index scores of
all National Merit Program participants within a state in
descending order. The score at which a states allocation
is most closely filled becomes the Semifinalist qualifying
score. Entrants with a Selection Index score at or above
the qualifying score are named Semifinalists. As a result
of this process, Semifinalist qualifying scores vary from
state to state and from year to year, but the scores of all
Semifinalists are extremely high.

In addition to Semifinalists designated in each of
the 50 states and without affecting the allocation to any
state, Semifinalists are named in several other selection
units that NMSC establishes for the competition. These
units are for students attending schools in the District of
Columbia, schools in U.S. commonwealths and territories,
schools in other countries that enroll U.S. citizens, and
U.S. boarding schools that enroll a sizable proportion of
their students from outside the state in which the school
is located. A participant can be considered for Semifinalist
standing in only one state or selection unit, based on the
high school in which the student is regularly enrolled
when taking the PSAT/NMSQT.

Finalists. A Semifinalist must fulfill several additional
requirements and advance to the Finalist level of the
competition before being considered for a National
Merit Scholarship. Over 90 percent (about 15,000)
of the Semifinalists are expected to become Finalists
and receive a Certificate of Merit attesting to their
distinguished performance in the competition.
Only Finalists will be considered for the 7,600 National
Merit Scholarships. Approximately half of the Finalists
will be Merit Scholarship winners (Merit Scholar®
awardees). Winners are chosen on the basis of their
abilities, skills, and accomplishments—without regard
to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.
Scholarship recipients are the candidates judged to have
the greatest potential for success in rigorous college
studies and beyond.

To receive a scholarship payment, a Merit Scholarship
winner must notify NMSC of plans to (a) enroll in a
college or university in the United States that holds
accredited status with a regional accrediting commission
on higher education, and (b) enroll full time in an
undergraduate course of study leading to a traditional
baccalaureate degree. NMSC scholarship stipends are
not payable for attendance at service academies or
certain institutions that are limited in their purposes
or training.

The selection process involves evaluating substantial
amounts of information about Finalists obtained from
both students and their high schools. Included are the
Finalists academic record (course load and difficulty
level, depth and breadth of subjects studied, and grades
earned); standardized test scores; the students essay;
demonstrated leadership and contributions to school
and community activities; and the school officials written
recommendation and characterization of the Finalist.
The same process is used to select Special Scholarship
winners for a corporate sponsors awards.

Types of Scholarships
Some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships of three types
and approximately 1,100 Special Scholarships will
be awarded in 2021; these 8,700 awards will have a
combined value of about $41 million. Different types of
scholarships will be offered, but no student can receive
more than one monetary award from NMSC.

National Merit® $2500 Scholarships. These awards are
unique because every Finalist is considered for one and
winners are named in every state and other selection
unit. The number awarded in each state is determined by
the same representational procedure used to designate
Semifinalists. Finalists compete with all other Finalists in
their state or selection unit for one of the 2,500 National
Merit $2500 Scholarships. Winners are selected by a
committee of college admission officers and high school
counselors.

National Merit $2500 Scholarships provide a single
payment of $2,500. NMSCs own funds support the
majority of these scholarships, but corporate sponsors
help underwrite these awards with grants they provide
to NMSC in lieu of paying administrative fees.