Harding Senior Camron Bowman was recently named a National Merit Scholar Semifinalist. If he is named one of the 15,000 national finalists he will be in contention for a $2,500 scholarship from the College Board. The semifinalist recognition itself also brings with it plethora of scholarship opportunities from major universities.

“Dr. Miller pulled me away from my friends in the hallway to tell me and told me not to tell anyone, then I went back and told my friends,” Bowman said about the reveal.

The University of Oklahoma offers one of the best aid packages for National Merit Scholars but Bowman has other plans in mind. He was originally looking at Southern Nazarene University but through the National Merit program found that University of Chicago could be a good fit as well as offering him significant scholarships for National Merit recognition as well as his other academic achievements.

Addison Franca, another Harding senior, was recognized this year as a National Hispanic Scholar. The National Hispanic Recognition Program, also run by the College Board, recognizes high-achieving Hispanic students. Out of the roughly 250,000 Hispanics that have taken the PSAT each year, only 5,000 are recognized as National Hispanic Scholars. The requirements include a cumulative 3.5 or higher GPA, a score above the selection score determined by College Board for that year, and the student must at least a quarter Hispanic or Latino.

“I was elated. I remember applying and then one day it came in the mail. I was really happy,” Franca said.

Franca is half Spanish-Italian from her father’s side. Since she has been recognized as a National Hispanic Scholar, organizations and universities are contacting her about aid for college. Franca is looking at Colorado State University and Oklahoma State University both of which have offered her significant amounts of scholarships for her achievement and academic rigor.

The National Merit System begins the sophomore year of high school with the PSAT. The College Board determines a certain score unique to each state.Of the 1.6 million PSAT testers in the United States, only 50,000 are recognized by the National Merit system. Two-thirds of the 50,000 are identified as commended students, and the remaining one-third (around 16,000) are named semifinalists. 15,000 of the semifinalists are recognized as National Merit Scholar Finalists, and 8,000 of the finalists are named winners and receive a $2,500 scholarship. These winners are selected by their academic record, school rigor, two standardized test scores, an official recommendation written by a representative of the school and the finalist’s essay.