Fairfax High School announced that five seniors have been recognized as semifinalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. Congratulations to:
- Rohan Desai
- Elias Falke
- Henry Mann
- Michael Stechl
- Nathan Yoon
These outstanding students now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for more than 6,900 National Merit Scholarship awards worth nearly $26 million, to be awarded in spring 2026.
To advance to finalist standing, students must meet rigorous academic standards and fulfill additional requirements, including a recommendation from a school official.
More than 16,000 high school seniors were named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists for 2026. More than 1.3 million juniors entered the 2026 National Merit program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which serves as the initial screen of program entrants.
The nationwide pool of semifinalists, which represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors. These determinations are made by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, not FCPS or individual schools.
Three types of Merit Scholarship awards will be offered in 2026: National Merit $2,500 scholarships, corporate-sponsored scholarships, and college-sponsored scholarships.
Merit Scholarship winners will be announced next spring.