Houston’s National Merit Semifinalists for 2026-2027

Houston’s Graduating Seniors Outperform

The 2026-2027 National Merit Scholarship Competition was another good showing for Houston-area high school seniors. Of the more than 16,000 “Semifinalists,” 498 Houston-area students scored in the top 1% on the PSAT/NMSQT. Alongside their semifinalist peers, Space City’s brightest will compete for nearly 6,700 National Merit Scholarships worth roughly $24 million. This year’s impressive number of Semifinalists represent about 3% of all Semifinalists nationwide. Houston’s best high schools by percent of the senior class scoring in the top 1% on the PSAT are St. John’s School, Michael E. De Bakey H.S. for Health Professions, and Awty International.

The nearly year-long sojourn to 2026-2027 National Merit Semifinalist started in October 2025. Current juniors will start the process this fall by taking the PSAT/NMSQT. While notably similar tests, participation rates on the SAT and PSAT/NMSQT differ nationally. Approximately 1.2 million students took the PSAT/NMSQT last October compared to the more than 2 million who sat for the SAT in the class of 2025. In Texas paying for SAT and PSAT/NMSQT also differs. The Lone Star State pays for all students to take either the ACT or SAT, while the state does not similarly foot the PSAT bill.

Cutoff Scores for Texas National Merit Semifinalists and Commended Scholars

National Merit Semifinalists (NMSF) are students who scored in the top 1% of high school juniors on the PSAT/NMSQT in their state. This year’s National Merit Scholar Semifinalists are the third cohort to take the new Digital PSAT. As a computer-adaptive style assessment, the Digital PSAT and Digital SAT are roughly the same outside of small variations in question difficulty.

Texas is regularly amongst the most competitive states in the US to qualify as a National Merit Semifinalist. This year the cutoff score in Texas was 219, down from 2025-26’s cutoff of 222. A 219 cutoff score means that students had to earn a selection index score of at least a 219 out of 228, which is roughly equivalent to approximately a 1460 on the actual SAT. Texas is not alone in seeing its cutoff score drop; in fact, every state saw their semifinalist threshold decline this year, which is likely due to ongoing norming difficulties with the shift from the paper to digital SAT—even General Academic has had to update and norm its practice SAT tests multiple times.

To earn the less prestigious but nonetheless admirable “Commended” designation, Texas students needed a selection index score of 208 (down from 210 last year), which places one approximately in the top 5% of PSAT takers nationwide.

The number and percentage of awardees is one of the only statistics offering cross-comparison between private and public high schools. Since the national average of Semifinalists is 1%, any school that boasts more than 1% of their senior class as National Merit Semifinalists is graduating students performing higher academically than average

Houston’s Top High Schools by National Merit Semifinalists

Boasting 41 Semifinalists, St. John’s School in River Oaks continues to be the metro area’s National Merit juggernaut.  Put otherwise, 23% of the Maverick senior class qualified as being in the top 1% of Texas PSAT/NMSQT test takers, which is 23 times the national average. The Awty International School continued its multi-year streak of high performance with 7% of its seniors earning the prestigious designation.

Michael E. DeBakey H.S. for Health Professions (18) unseated Carnegie Vanguard H.S. (12) as top HISD school. Katy ISD’s Seven Lakes H.S. (45) takes the crown for most Semifinalists amongst Houston area high schools, with William P. Clements H.S. (30) of Fort Bend ISD taking bronze for number of semifinalists.

Other top schools in the Houston area with approximately 5% of their senior class earning the title National Merit Semifinalist include Carnegie Vanguard, Clements, Emery / Weiner, Seven Lakes, and Strake Jesuit.

Superb Suburban Schools in Katy, Sugar Land, and The Woodlands

Only 193 of the Houston-area’s 498 National Merit Semifinalists actually hail from Houston (or Bellaire); the remaining 305 are from the city’s suburbs, particularly Katy, Sugar Land, and The Woodlands.

By the numbers,

• Katy’s 82 National Merit Semifinalists represent more than 15% of the Houston area’s total.
• Sugar Land’s 33 National Merit Semifinalists represent ~6% of the Houston area’s total.
• The Woodlands’ 33 National Merit Semifinalists represent ~6% of The Houston area’s total.

Key Takeaways From the 2026-2027 Semifinalists Announcement

1. St. John’s School is in a league of its own followed by Awty International School.
2. Houston ISD’s Michael E. DeBakey H.S. for Health Professions is the best public school in the greater Houston area.
3. The Katy, Sugar Land, and The Woodlands suburban public school districts are exceptional.

Best Texas High Schools by National Merit Semifinalists

Disregarding the size of a school’s senior class, these schools had the most Semifinalists in Texas:

• Coppell High School (Coppell) – 47
• Seven Lakes High School (Katy) – 45
• Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School (Austin) – 42
• St. John’s School (Houston) – 41
• Westwood H.S. (Austin) – 39
• Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science (Denton) – 38
• Plano West High School (Plano) – 37
• William P. Clements H.S. (Sugar Land) – 30
• Carroll High School (Southlake)- 30
• Hockaday School (Dallas) – 28

National Merit Scholarships Can Mean Free College

In a typical year, about half of all high school juniors across more than 20,000 US high schools participate in the National Merit Scholarship competition beginning the fall of their 11th grade year. Juniors compete by sitting for what is essentially an abbreviated, practice SAT (PSAT/NMSQT).

Semifinalists, the most important designation, represent the top 1% of the approximate 1.2 million test-takers. National Merit Semifinalists generally qualify for scholarships that can range from full tuition at certain public colleges to $5,000 and $10,000 scholarships at prestigious, private universities.

Texas colleges offering full-rides include the Texas Tech, University of Houston, UT Dallas, UT Tyler, UNT Dallas, Abilene Christian, and Lubbock Christian. Even competitive Texas A&M at College Station offers a near free ride.

Approximately 15,000 out of 16,000 semifinalists then go on to be designated finalists. Finalists are typically chosen in accordance with their school grades and ACT or SAT test scores.

Lastly, a little over half of the finalists are designated “Merit-Scholarship” recipients, meaning that they get a fancy title and one-time $2,500 cash payment. Scholarship winners are selected “based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments.”

These NMSF figures are particularly attractive, versus SAT and ACT scores, because they’re publicly available from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation; conversely, schools do not have to disclose the SAT and ACT scores of their students. And when private schools do disclose SAT/ACT scores, it’s often presented in a way that’s difficult to read and/or compare.

Names of Texas National Merit Semifinalists

This list includes all National Merit Semifinalists in Texas. Our calculations for the Greater Houston Area include Baytown, Bellaire, Conroe, Cypress, Friendswood, Fulshear, Houston, Humble, Katy, Kingwood, Klein, League City, Missouri City, Pearland, Richmond, Spring, Stafford, Sugar Land, The Woodlands, and Tomball. The table’s default sorting is by city.

This article was last updated on September 17, 2026.

Download the full list of Texas National Merit Semifinalists from National Merit Scholarship Corporation