Colerain High School senior William Rahtz has been named a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist in the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program. William now has the opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6.930 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring.
Steps in the 2026 Competition
Each year, over 1.3 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools enter the 2026 national Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT). The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.
About 95% of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.
National Merit Scholarship winners of 2026 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July.
Congratulations, William, on this outstanding achievement!