Recently, officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®) announced the names of more than 16,000 Semifinalists in the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program. A total of 10 students from Maine East, Maine South and Maine West earned Semifinalist status by taking the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants.
Congratulations to Maine West 12th grader Lazar Mitic for being named a Semifinalists!
From over 16,000 Semifinalists, more than 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist Level. Semifinalists who advance to the Finalist Level of the competition have the opportunity to earn one of three types of scholarships:
- One of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships. Winners of this scholarship receive a single payment of $2,500 that is awarded on a state-representational basis.
- A corporate-sponsored scholarship. About 700 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 120 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.
- A college-sponsored merit scholarship. About 140 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 3,500 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.
National Merit Scholarship winners of 2027 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join over 395,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.