Elizabethtown Area High School is proud to announce that seniors Noah Breneman and Lillian Ross have been named semifinalists in the prestigious 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program. On Friday, September 20, Dr. Jason D'Amico, principal of Elizabethtown Area High School, honored Noah and Lillian at a small ceremony celebrating their achievements.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is one of the most distinguished academic recognition programs in the United States. Less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors are selected as semifinalists, representing the top-scoring students in each state. Over 1.3 million juniors from approximately 21,000 high schools entered the 2025 competition by taking the 2023 PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

To advance from semifinalist to finalist status, students must meet a range of academic and extracurricular criteria. This includes maintaining an exceptional academic record, demonstrating leadership and involvement in school and community activities, writing an essay, and earning qualifying SAT or ACT scores. Each semifinalist is also endorsed by a high school official.

Of the 16,000 semifinalists named nationwide, approximately 15,000 are expected to advance to finalist status. These finalists will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit Scholarships, each valued at $2,500, awarded on a state-representational basis. In addition, around 770 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards, provided by about 130 companies and business organizations, will be available to finalists who meet specific criteria. Furthermore, roughly 150 colleges and universities are expected to fund approximately 3,600 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for finalists planning to attend their institutions.

Noah is the son of Jason and Stephanie Breneman of Elizabethtown, and Lillian is the daughter of Melissa Ross of Elizabethtown and Robert Ross of New Holland.