{"answer":"NMSC sets a different National Merit qualifying score in each state and does not publish it. About 16,000 of the 1.2 million students who entered the 2027 program made Semifinalist.","as_of":"October 2026","date":"2026-10-15","dek":"The table holds what NMSC itself publishes about the 2027 program. It holds no state cutoff score, because NMSC publishes none.","faq":[{"a":"NMSC sets the Semifinalist score state by state. Any state cutoff list on another site is an estimate.","q":"What is the National Merit cutoff score for 2027?"},{"a":"About 16,000 students were told in early September 2026 that they had made Semifinalist. About 34,000 were named Commended Students.","q":"How many students become National Merit Semifinalists?"},{"a":"In recent years only about half of the 15,000 Finalists have won an award.","q":"Does every National Merit Finalist win a scholarship?"}],"findings":[{"h":"There is no one National Merit cutoff.","p":"NMSC sets the Semifinalist score state by state. Each state's share of Semifinalists matches its share of the nation's seniors. So the score shifts from state to state, and from year to year, as NMSC's own guide says. The table of those scores is marked proprietary, and it may not be published without NMSC's written permission. Any state cutoff list on another site is an estimate."},{"h":"About 16,000 students made Semifinalist.","p":"Roughly 1.2 million students enter each year. About 50,000 of them are named high scorers. About 16,000 students were told in early September 2026 that they had made Semifinalist. About 34,000 were named Commended Students. Commended is real praise, but only Semifinalists stay in the running for the money."},{"h":"A Semifinalist is still two steps from a check.","p":"About 15,000 Semifinalists reach Finalist standing in February 2027. NMSC offers 7,320 awards a year, with a total value of over $30 million. Of those, 6,700 are National Merit Scholarships for Finalists, and about 620 more are Special Scholarships from business sponsors. In recent years only about half of the 15,000 Finalists have won an award."}],"license":"CC BY 4.0 \u2014 quote with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach)","method":"The figures come from NMSC's Guide to the National Merit Scholarship Program, September 2026 edition, which covers the 2027 competition. The population is students who entered by taking the PSAT/NMSQT in October 2025 and who are on track to graduate from high school in 2027. Two things in that guide are left out here: the state-by-state table of qualifying scores, which NMSC marks proprietary, and the exact entrant and Semifinalist counts that appear only inside that table. The rows follow the program's own order, from entry through the awards.","question":"What is the National Merit cutoff score for the class of 2027?","related":[{"label":"Do test scores still matter?","url":"/test-scores"},{"label":"Merit scholarships by college","url":"/merit-scholarships"},{"label":"Average SAT score by state","url":"/research/average-sat-score-by-state-2025"},{"label":"Test Prep Gurus explainers, including National Merit","url":"https://www.prepgurus.com/explainers"}],"sections":[{"h2":"How the Selection Index is built","paragraphs":["The score NMSC reads is not the PSAT/NMSQT total. It is a Selection Index: double the Reading and Writing section score, add the Math section score, then divide by 10. A family can do that math from the student's own score report.","Entry happens once. Students entered the 2027 program by taking the PSAT/NMSQT in October 2025, in the fall of junior year. No later sitting counts for this program."]},{"h2":"Why the cutoff lists on other sites are estimates","paragraphs":["NMSC publishes the stages, the dates and the award counts. It does not publish the state scores. The table that holds them carries its own restriction. The scores are proprietary, and they may not be published without NMSC's written permission.","That leaves other sites to estimate. Most of them collect what students report after the fact. Those estimates can be close, and they can also be a point or two off. A point or two is the whole question for a family near the line. The plain answer is that the score moves with the state and the year.","Two gaps belong in the open. NMSC's September 2026 news release on Semifinalists did not open as readable text. These figures come from NMSC's own program guide instead. That guide states no nationwide Selection Index range, so we print none."]},{"h2":"What a family should do with this","paragraphs":["Treat the October PSAT/NMSQT of junior year as the test that counts. Prepare for it the way you would for the SAT, because it asks the same kind of questions. Then compute the Selection Index from the score report, and read that number instead of a cutoff list.","Plan for the money without counting on it. The National Merit $2500 Scholarship is a single payment, not four years of tuition. The bigger awards come from colleges, so the size depends on where a Finalist enrolls. Many colleges publish their own merit grids as well, and those have nothing to do with National Merit."]}],"slug":"national-merit-2027","sources":[{"label":"NMSC: Guide to the National Merit Scholarship Program (September 2026 edition, official PDF)","url":"https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/guide_to_the_national_merit_scholarship_program.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61"},{"label":"National Merit Scholarship Corporation (nationalmerit.org home)","url":"https://www.nationalmerit.org"}],"tables":[{"columns":[{"fmt":"str","key":"claim","label":"Fact"},{"fmt":"str","key":"value","label":"As stated"},{"fmt":"url","key":"url","label":"Source"}],"h2":"What NMSC publishes about the 2027 National Merit program","intro":"One row per published fact, with the NMSC page that states it.","note":"These are NMSC's own figures for the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program, which follows the PSAT/NMSQT given in October 2025 to students graduating in 2027. The counts are the rounded program figures NMSC prints in ordinary prose, not a headcount of named students. No state qualifying score appears here, because NMSC marks its state-by-state table of those scores as proprietary.","rows":[{"claim":"Students entering the 2027 competition took the PSAT/NMSQT in October 2025","fetched":"2026-10-15","quote":"Students entered the 2027 program by taking the 2025 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).","url":"https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/guide_to_the_national_merit_scholarship_program.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61","value":"October 1 through October 31, 2025"},{"claim":"Roughly 1.2-1.3 million students entered the 2027 program","fetched":"2026-10-15","quote":"Currently, over 1.2 million students in about 19,000 high schools enter the National Merit Scholarship Program each year.","url":"https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/guide_to_the_national_merit_scholarship_program.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61","value":"approximately 1.2 million (guide narrative) / 1,300,000 (guide section header)"},{"claim":"About 50,000 entrants qualify for program recognition (the pool from which Semifinalists and Commended Students are named)","fetched":"2026-10-15","quote":"Some 50,000 entrants qualify for program recognition, and approximately 7,320 outstanding students receive scholarships for college undergraduate study.","url":"https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/guide_to_the_national_merit_scholarship_program.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61","value":50000},{"claim":"About 16,000 Semifinalists were named in the 2027 program, announced September 2026","fetched":"2026-10-15","quote":"16,000 Semifinalists. In early September 2026, about a third of the 50,000 high scorers will be notified that they have qualified as Semifinalists","url":"https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/guide_to_the_national_merit_scholarship_program.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61","value":16000},{"claim":"About 34,000 students were named Commended Students (scored high but did not advance to Semifinalist)","fetched":"2026-10-15","quote":"34,000 Commended Students. In late September 2026, more than two-thirds of the 50,000 high scorers will be notified ... that they have qualified as Commended Students.","url":"https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/guide_to_the_national_merit_scholarship_program.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61","value":34000},{"claim":"About 15,000 Semifinalists will advance to Finalist standing in February 2027","fetched":"2026-10-15","quote":"15,000 Finalists. In February 2027, Semifinalists who meet academic and other requirements will be notified that they have advanced to Finalist standing.","url":"https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/guide_to_the_national_merit_scholarship_program.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61","value":15000},{"claim":"How the Selection Index is computed","fetched":"2026-10-15","quote":"NMSC uses Selection Index scores (calculated by doubling the Reading and Writing section score, adding the Math section score, and dividing the total by 10) to determine 50,000 high-scoring participants","url":"https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/guide_to_the_national_merit_scholarship_program.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61","value":"doubling the ERW section score, adding the Math section score, dividing by 10"},{"claim":"NMSC sets a separate Semifinalist qualifying (Selection Index) score for each state, proportional to that state's share of the nation's graduating seniors, so cutoffs vary by state and by year","fetched":"2026-10-15","quote":"this process results in qualifying scores that vary from one state to another and from year to year, it produces an equitable, representative distribution of recognized students nationwide","url":"https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/guide_to_the_national_merit_scholarship_program.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61","value":"varies by state and year; not a single national cutoff"},{"claim":"NMSC's own guide marks its state-by-state Semifinalist qualifying-score table as proprietary and restricts its public disclosure","fetched":"2026-10-15","quote":"The information in this table constitutes proprietary information of National Merit Scholarship Corporation and may not be ... published or disclosed without the express written permission of National Merit Scholarship Corporation.","url":"https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/guide_to_the_national_merit_scholarship_program.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61","value":"proprietary; not to be published or disclosed without NMSC's written permission"},{"claim":"Total scholarships offered and total dollar value","fetched":"2026-10-15","quote":"Some 7,320 awards with a total value of over $30 million are offered each year to outstanding participants in the National Merit Scholarship Program.","url":"https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/guide_to_the_national_merit_scholarship_program.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61","value":"7,320 awards, over $30 million"},{"claim":"Breakdown of the 7,320 awards: National Merit Scholarships to Finalists vs. corporate Special Scholarships to other high performers","fetched":"2026-10-15","quote":"In addition to 6,700 National Merit Scholarships that are awarded to Finalists, about 620 Special Scholarships are sponsored by business organizations for other high performers in the competition.","url":"https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/guide_to_the_national_merit_scholarship_program.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61","value":"6,700 National Merit Scholarships (to Finalists) + about 620 Special Scholarships"},{"claim":"The three types of National Merit Scholarship awards (all awarded to Finalists, beginning March 2027)","fetched":"2026-10-15","quote":"nmsc will notify winners of the three types of National Merit Scholarships: National Merit $2500 Scholarships, Corporate-sponsored scholarships, College-sponsored scholarships","url":"https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/guide_to_the_national_merit_scholarship_program.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61","value":"National Merit $2500 Scholarships; Corporate-sponsored scholarships; College-sponsored scholarships"},{"claim":"The National Merit $2500 Scholarship is a single-payment, state-representational award -- 2,500 are offered, one per Finalist pool per state/selection unit","fetched":"2026-10-15","quote":"The 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships offered annually are an integral part of the competition because every Finalist is considered for one and winners are chosen in every state and other selection unit.","url":"https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/guide_to_the_national_merit_scholarship_program.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61","value":"2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships"},{"claim":"Semifinalist announcement date for the 2027 program","fetched":"2026-10-15","quote":"September 9: Date for news media nationwide to release NMSC's announcement of Semifinalists.","url":"https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/guide_to_the_national_merit_scholarship_program.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61","value":"2026-09-09"},{"claim":"Finalist notification date for the 2027 program","fetched":"2026-10-15","quote":"February 8: Notification of advancement to Finalist standing mailed to Semifinalists' home addresses.","url":"https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/guide_to_the_national_merit_scholarship_program.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61","value":"2027-02-08"},{"claim":"Not all Finalists win a scholarship -- roughly half in recent years","fetched":"2026-10-15","quote":"The National Merit Program is very competitive, and, in recent years, only about half of the 15,000 Finalists have been selected to be Merit Scholar awardees.","url":"https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/images/gid2/editor_documents/guide_to_the_national_merit_scholarship_program.pdf?gid=2&pgid=61","value":"about half of 15,000 Finalists"}]}],"title":"National Merit sets a different cutoff for each state and does not publish it","updated":null,"url":"https://highschoolreach.com/research/national-merit-2027"}