Is Your Kid's School On This National Merit List?

Eleven Minnesota high school seniors are among the final group of National Merit Scholars named this year, according to an announcement released Monday by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).

The students are receiving college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards, which pay between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years and are funded directly by the colleges and universities the students plan to attend.

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This is the last of three 2026 announcement rounds, following earlier releases of National Merit $2,500 Scholarships and corporate-sponsored awards.

Nationwide, more than 750 college-sponsored winners were named in this round, joining over 2,500 others announced in June. In total, 138 colleges and universities are sponsoring more than 3,250 Merit Scholarship awards this year, including 69 private and 69 public institutions across 42 states and the District of Columbia.

The 2026 competition began when the students took the PSAT/NMSQT as juniors in 2024. More than 16,000 Semifinalists were named nationally in September 2025, and over 15,000 of those advanced to Finalist standing after submitting applications that included an essay, academic records and school endorsements.

About half of the Finalists ultimately received a National Merit Scholarship, bringing this year's total to about 6,500 scholars sharing nearly $24 million in awards.

Local winners named in Monday's release include:

Ethan C. Liao of Arden Hills, a student at Edina High School planning to study medicine, who will attend the University of Minnesota.

Isaac W. McCarty of Edina, also an Edina High School student, planning to study finance at the University of Minnesota.

Oliver M. Nelson of Golden Valley, a Minnetonka High School student planning to study mechanical engineering at Texas A&M University.

Rachel H. Lee of Little Canada, a Roseville Area High School student planning to study fine arts at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Edmund R. Gallia of Minneapolis, a Thomas Jefferson High School student planning to study writing at Macalester College.

Kai Mizuno of Minneapolis, a Washburn High School student planning to study cell biology at the University of Minnesota.

Josephine J. Wagner of Minneapolis, an Edina High School student planning to study political science at Colorado College.

Jeffrey Chen of Minnetonka, a student at the Blake School's Northrup campus in Minneapolis, planning to study medicine at Emory University.

Angela Liang of Plymouth, a Wayzata High School student who is undecided on a career field, planning to attend the University of Minnesota.

Kaitlyn Walker of Shoreview, a Mounds View High School student planning to study nursing at Brigham Young University.

Ian J. Jin of Woodbury, a Math and Science Academy student planning to study business at Emory University.

NMSC, a not-for-profit founded in 1955, has awarded more than $1.4 billion in National Merit Scholarships to over 395,000 students over the past 71 years. The organization cautions that comparing schools by the number of Merit winners does not measure the quality of education at any school, system or state.