Tri-City has another National Merit winner competing for $24M in scholarships
A Richland High School senior was named recipient this week of a college-sponsored scholarship through the prestigious National Merit Scholarship Program.
Dylan Trigg was one of four students selected as National Merit finalists in March, and has now earned the National Merit University of Idaho Scholarship.
It’s valued between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship, said a Wednesday announcement from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Trigg plans to study law and specialize in intellectual property.
He is one of 16 graduating seniors in Washington state and more than 2,500 nationwide who were awarded a 2026 college scholarship this week. About 138 higher education institutions — half of them public universities — are funding the awards.
“College-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners announced today are a part of the distinguished group of about 6,700 high school seniors who will receive National Merit Scholarships for college undergraduate study worth nearly $24 million,” read the corporation’s announcement.
“Earlier this spring, NMSC announced winners of corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards and National Merit $2,500 Scholarships.”
Students entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship program during their junior year by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT test, which serves as an initial screener of National Merit program entrants.
More than 1.3 million students across 20,000 high schools took the test. But just 15,000 met the requirements for finalist standing, with less than half of that going on to become Merit Scholarship recipients.
Three types of National Merit scholarships are offered: 2,500 National Merit $2,500 scholarships, 830 corporate-sponsored scholarships, and 3,600 scholarships sponsored by colleges and universities for students to attend.
Between April and July, the National Merit corporation will make four announcements naming winners. Victor Petyuk, of Richland High School, and Emma Yuan, of Hanford High School, earlier this year were named 2026 recipients of the National Merit Battelle Scholarship.
More recipients of college-sponsored scholarships will be announced on July 13.