Avery Mackey (left,) Henry Franklin, Varun Patel, Robert Papshev

The Pennsbury School District is proud to share that the National Merit Scholarship Corporation recently announced four Pennsbury High School students as semifinalists in the 68th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have the opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,250 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered next spring.

Congratulations to Henry Franklin, Avery Mackey, Robert Papshev, and Varun Patel.

Students entered the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2021 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) during their junior year, which serves as an initial screen for program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

From over 16,000 semifinalists, more than 15,000 are expected to advance to the finalist level. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of Finalists. Merit Scholar designees are selected based on their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

To learn more about the National Merit Scholarship Program, visit the National Merit Scholarship Corporation website.