Cathedral Prep senior Devan Bailey has made it to the semifinalist category of The National Merit Scholarship Program, which awards students scholarship money for excellent academic performance. Being in the semifinalist bracket of this scholarship selection, Devan is one of the final 16,000 people in the running for the award, and has a very strong chance to earn this scholarship. The National Merit Scholarship is an elite level academic achievement that makes college finances easier for the students selected to receive this.

To be put in the selection for this scholarship, a student has to receive a very high score on his/her PSAT/NMSQT. Devan worked extremely hard on standardized tests like the PSAT because he always holds great value in his education and great intelligence to match that value. Devan is looking into attending the University of Texas at Dallas and recipients of this scholarship receive complete tuition coverage at the University of Texas. Along with full tuition, these scholars also receive a $4,000 per semester stipend to help them afford books and living on campus and a $1,500 per semester stipend for housing.

“I found out about it when my score came back as good enough to qualify last year in the state of Pennsylvania,” Devan said. “Since then I’ve been waiting to get official confirmation that I actually qualified and can proceed in the competition to the next step, which would be national merit finalist, in hopes of becoming a national merit scholar, which is where the money comes into the equation.”

Making it all the way to the finalists is Devan’s goal, but the Cathedral Prep brotherhood is proud of him making it as far as he did. The finalists will be announced in February, so stay tuned for an update.