September 24, 2008 - Four students from Austin high schools have been honored as Semifinalists in the 45th Annual National Achievement Scholarship competition for promising African American high school seniors.

Semifinalists are the highest-scoring participants who took the Preliminary SAT National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) as high school juniors in 2007. Approximately 1,600 National Achievement Semifinalists were named nationwide.  
 
National Achievement Semifinalists will now compete for Finalist ranking and consideration in the extremely rigorous competition for scholarship awards. An estimated 800 Achievement Scholarship Awards, worth almost $2.6 million, will be offered next spring.  
 
Finalists must have an outstanding high school academic record, be endorsed and recommended by their school principal, and submit SAT scores that confirm their earlier qualifying test performance. Finalists will be announced in April 2009. Austin students named 2008-09 National Achievement Semifinalists are:  
 

• Bowie High School Daniel Hobbs.
• Liberal Arts & Science Academy Andrea Cabrera, Carlos Greaves, and Mahogane Reed.

 
 
The Austin School District provides funding so that every high school sophomore and junior can take the PSAT. This year, the test will be given on Wednesday, October 15. Students who have not already registered for the test should contact their school counselor immediately.