Officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of more than 16,000 Semifinalists in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, and a Pella High School student was chosen among this group.

Alexander Demuth now has an opportunity to continue in the competition for nearly 6,900 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. Demuth is an active member of Pella High School speech and drama, which includes All-State recognition and participation ni the International Thespian Festival.

About 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and approximately half of those students will win a National Merit Scholarship and earn the Merit Scholar title.

Over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

National Merit Scholarship winners of 2025 will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join more than 382,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar distinction.