Helen Johnson of Decorah named National Merit Scholarship semifinalist

(decorahnews.com file photo)

A Decorah High School student--Helen Johnson--is one of the around 16,000 Semifinalists in the 62nd annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Johnson will now have the chance to compete for one of the 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth about $33 million that will be awarded next spring. Around 90 percent of Semifinalists will be named Finalists and about half of Finalists will receive a scholarship.

About 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2015 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®).  The nationwide pool of National Merit Semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors.

Merit Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.