National Merit Scholarship Program

To enter the 2028 National Merit Program, a student needs to meet all of the following requirements. A student must:

be enrolled as a high school student (traditional or homeschooled), progressing normally toward graduation or completion of high school by 2028, and planning to accept admission to college no later than the fall of 2028;

attend high school in the United States, District of Columbia, or U.S. commonwealths and territories; or meet the citizenship requirements for students attending high school outside the United States; and

take the 2026 PSAT/NMSQT in the specified year of the high school program and no later than the third year in grades 9 through 12, regardless of grade classification or educational pattern