Eight Anne Arundel County Public Schools seniors have been named 2026 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), moving them one step closer to earning a piece of the $26 million worth of prestigious National Merit Scholarships to be awarded next spring.
The students are:
Evan Crockett, Severna Park High School
Madeleine Hardisty, Arundel High School
Zachariah Jackson, Broadneck High School
Elyse Katolin, Crofton High School
Maya Kirshtein, Severna Park High School
Christopher Lowman, Severna Park High School
Selah Sutton, Meade High School
Nathaniel Weinbaum, Broadneck High School
The NMSC has operated the National Merit Scholarship Program since 1955 and does so without government assistance. Most of the NMSC’s scholarships are bestowed by 280 independent corporate organizations, higher education institutions, and individual donors.
Approximately 50,000 academically talented high school students are honored by the program each year, and about 16,000 of them are named semifinalists based on their performance on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). Finalists go on to compete for National Merit Scholarships, of which approximately 6,900 will be awarded this year.
In an effort to make more students eligible for National Merit Scholarships, Anne Arundel County Public Schools administers the PSAT to all students in grades 9 through 11 and the SAT to all 11th-graders. Both exams are administered free of charge.
National Merit Scholarship finalists will be announced in February.