Drew Thomas, a senior at Villa Madonna Academy in Villa Hills, has been named a finalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program, a prestigious program that will distribute about $33 million in combined value to scholarship winners in 2027.
Thomas was named a semifinalist in the fall. The program fields about 1.3 million entrants a year. From those initial entrants, 16,000 semifinalists were selected this month, and 15,000 finalists, including Thomas, will go on to compete for final awards. Contestants in the program usually start as juniors who plan to attend college. They take a Preliminary SAT or National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (in addition to other screening requirements) during the initial screening process.
Thomas hopes to win a Merit Scholarship, one of several available scholarships in the program. 6,930 Merit Scholarship winners will be announced in March of 2027.