A Brookland-Cayce High School student has been announced as a finalist in the National Merit Scholarship program, a prestigious recognition of some of the nation’s top academically talented high school seniors.

Lukas Melcher is one of roughly 15,000 finalists nationwide who will compete for 7,140 National Merit Scholarships totaling $28 million. Winners will be announced this spring.

Melcher will attend the University of South Carolina Honors College this fall.

High school juniors entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

To qualify as finalists, semifinalists must submit a detailed scholarship application that includes their academic record, school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, honors and awards. They also must have a recommendation from a high school official, write an essay, and earn an SAT or ACT score that confirms the student’s academic performance.