Eighty-three Idaho high school seniors are among 16,000 students nationwide named as semi-finalists in the prestigious National Merit scholarship. The National Merit Scholarships are funded by the National Merit Scholarship Corp, U.S. corporations and colleges and universities.

These finalists will have an opportunity to compete for about 7,500 National Merit Scholarships, which total more than $31 million. It is expected that 90 percent of the total semi-finalists will attain “finalist” standing, and half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship and earn the “Merit Scholar” title.

To qualify for this award, students must take the Preliminary-SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The highest-scoring students in each state are then selected as semi-finalists.

To become a finalist, the semifinalists’ schools then submit a detailed scholarship application, detailing a student’s academic record, participation in activities, demonstrated leadership ability, employment, and honors and awards he or she has received. The student must also be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that reflect his or her high score on the PSAT.

Take a look at the map to find out which students were named semi-finalists.