In an editorial, USA Today notes that the 15,000 National Merit Scholars are not just chosen on the basis of, well, merit, but also geography. That is, scholarships are apportioned to each state based on the number of graduating seniors in that state relative to the number nationwide. Thus, Mississippi, with 1 percent of graduating seniors nationwide, gets 1 percent of National Merit Scholars, despite the fact that the Mississippi winners had test scores well below winners (and also-rans) from other states. (In 2001, according to the article, students from Mississippi needed only 200 out of 240 on the nationwide test, while students from Maryland needed at least a 220.) The National Merit Scholarship Corporation defends its actions, saying that the test was never designed to highlight state educational shortcomings. Of course, the scholarship can set any guidelines for distributing scholarships it wants (though we question the logic of then calling them "National" scholars), but it's interesting to note once again that national tests really can shed light on important educational inequities that exist among states.
"National Merit Scholars," USA Today editorial, February 9, 2004