South Asian American students continue to make remarkable academic strides, as evidenced by the recent announcement of the 2026 National Merit Scholarship winners. Among this year’s distinguished honorees are several high-achieving high school students, reflecting the growing talent pool of young South Asian scholars in the state. 

The 2,500 Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 outstanding Finalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners are the Finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

These Scholars were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high

school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the

Finalists and their high schools: the academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned.

2026 National Merit Scholars are…

• Ishan Ravi Abraham, Faith Lutheran High School, Las Vegas; Probable career field: Computer Engineering
• Alexia Binu, Ed. W. Clark High School, Las Vegas; Probable career field: Healthcare
• Ethan M. Kurian, Ed. W. Clark High School, Las Vegas; Probable career field: Orthopedics. Additionally, Ethan is a recipient of $100,000 scholarship from Rogers Foundation.
• Mujtaba H. Shahzad, The Meadows School, Las Vegas; Probable career field: Medicine
• Aryan Singh, The Meadows School, Las Vegas; Probable career field: Consulting
• Yajur Chandar, The Davidson Academy, Reno; Probable career field: Biological Engineering
• Aadi Patwa, The Davidson Academy, Reno; Probable career field: Business
• Rithik Rajesh, Galena High School, Reno; Probable career field: Medicine

This year’s National Merit Scholarship Program began in October 2024 when high school juniors took the PSAT/NMSQT, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall,

the highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less than one percent of the nation’s high school seniors, were named Semifinalists on a state-representational basis. More than 16,000 Semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition.

From the Semifinalist group, over 15,000 students met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. By the conclusion of the 2026 program, about 6,700 Finalists will have earned the “Merit Scholar” title and received a total of nearly $24 million in college scholarships.