Sixteen Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) students won National Merit scholarships in 2026. National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) releases the names of scholarship winners in four rounds: corporate-sponsored merit scholarships, National Merit $2,500 scholarships and two rounds of college-sponsored merit scholarships. 

Seven LCPS students are among the 2,500 finalists who won the National Merit $2,500 Scholarship. These awards were announced on May 13. The LCPS students who won the National Merit $2,500 Scholarship are:

• Erica S. Baek, Briar Woods High School

  Probable career field: Biochemistry

• Tanush Bhardwaj, Lightridge High School

  Probable career field: Physics

• Smaran Bonthula, Independence High School

  Probable career field: Finance

• Riya K. Cherukuri, Rock Ridge High School

  Probable career field: Medicine

• Aarav Chhapgar, John Champe High School

  Probable career field: Anesthesiology

• Derek Q. Nguyen, Freedom High School

  Probable career field: Neuroscience

• Ruyue Alps Xia, Riverside High School

  Probable career field: Biology

Four LCPS students won the college-sponsored National Merit Scholarships. These students are among approximately 3,500 finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program who received scholarships from the colleges they plan to attend. College-sponsored awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship. These awards were announced in two rounds on June 3 and July 13. The LCPS students who received college-sponsored National Merit scholarships are:

• Nishka Illapani, Briar Woods High School

  Probable career field: Medicine

  National Merit University of South Florida Scholarship

• Liam L. Phlegar, Stone Bridge High School

  Probable career field: Conservation

  National Merit Louisiana State University Scholarship

• Sanica Rao, Briar Woods High School

  Probable career field: Political Science

  National Merit University of Texas at Dallas Scholarship

• Rohith Rayudu, Freedom High School

  Probable career field:  Computer Science

  National Merit University of Florida Scholarship

In addition to these scholarship winners, five LCPS students won corporate-sponsored National Merit scholarships. These scholarship winners were announced earlier this year. 

This year’s competition for National Merit scholarships began when high school juniors took the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. In September 2025, more than 16,000 semifinalists were named on a state-representational basis in numbers proportional to each state’s percentage of the national total of graduating high school seniors. Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than one percent of the nation’s seniors.

To become a finalist, each semifinalist had to complete a detailed scholarship application, which included writing an essay, describing leadership positions and contributions in school and community activities, showing an outstanding academic record and being endorsed and recommended by a high school official. Semifinalists also had to take the SAT or ACT and earn scores that confirmed their performance on the initial qualifying test. From the semifinalist group, over 15,000 attained finalist standing, and about half of the finalists were chosen to receive National Merit Scholarships.