Officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of about 16,000 semifinalists in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program this month; a pool that represents less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors. Four Morse High School students — Samuel Schultz, Aidan Shields, Elliot Harkins and Iris Hennin — earned a semifinalist spot after taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in 2020.

To become a finalist, semifinalists and a high school official must submit a detailed scholarship application. About 15,000 students are expected to advance to the finalist level, the winners of which will be announced in February 2022.

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2022. Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships. About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by about 220 corporations and business organizations for finalists who meet their specified criteria. About 180 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.

“The Morse faculty could not be more proud of these four students who have earned their place as National Merit Scholar Semifinalists,” Morse High School Principal Eric Varney said. “Students do not accomplish this designation without commitment and competence in their academics. We are hopeful that these four outstanding students will continue to the next level of national recognition.”

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2022 will be announced beginning in April 2022 and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 362,000 other young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title