CCHS is honored to announce that senior Kuyill Ponnappan (Moorestown, NJ/William Allen Middle School) has been named a National Merit Finalist. National Merit Finalists are top-performing high school seniors, representing roughly the top 1% of US students who took the PSAT/NMSQT. Kuyill was selected from 15,000 students across the country, and will now be a candidate for Merit Schoalrships to be announced in March.
Over 1.3 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of 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. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.
In addition to being a devoted scholar, Kuyill is involved in student activities ranging from the performing arts to creative writing club and serves as President of the National Honor Society.
Principal, Heather Crisci says, “We are very proud of Kuyill and this outstanding achievement. This accomplishment is a testament to her hard work and academic dedication over her four years at Camden Catholic High School.”
NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by about 300 business organizations, higher education institutions, and individual donors that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.
Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference. Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2026. Every Finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit® $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis. About 830 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 150 corporations and business organizations for Finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 150 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 3,600 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.