Many efforts have been launched by the College Board to facilitate underrepresented students’ access to higher education, including the National Hispanic Recognition Program (NHRP). The National Hispanic Recognition Program finds gifted Hispanic students and puts them in touch with universities and scholarships through collaboration with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.
Students had to be at least 25% Hispanic to qualify. Every year, the NHRP selects about 200 of the top-scoring PAA students from Puerto Rico and about 7,000 of the top-scoring students from a nationwide sample of 250,000 high school juniors who took the PSAT/NMSQT and identified as Hispanic.
Although the NHRP does not offer scholarships, it does give students a certificate of recognition that they can show to universities or organizations that offer scholarships. The College Board’s NHRP is the most established recognition program.
Separate recognition programs for black, Indigenous, and rural students have recently been added by the organization. The National Merit Scholarship Program, run by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, is not the same as the NHRP.
The College Board has expanded the NHRP program to include a greater range of academic accomplishments than the PSAT/NMSQT score, which was the program’s exclusive basis previously. The top 2.5% of scorers were the only students who could receive recognition in the past, but that cap has been lifted.
Students in their sophomore or junior year are eligible. The NHRP does not come with a monetary prize, but it is still a significant honor and noteworthy accomplishment; each year, about 840,000 Hispanic/Latino scholars take the PSAT/NMSQT, of which only about 5,000 are qualified to apply for the program. Getting this honor can boost your chances of getting a scholarship and open doors for college admission.
Qualifications for the National Hispanic Recognition Program
A student can only apply for the National Hispanic Recognition Program if they fulfill all the requirements:
- Take the junior year’s PSAT/NMSQT in February.
- Reach a minimum PSAT/NMSQT score requirement (qualifying levels vary by region)
- 3.5 or above cumulative GPA by the middle of their junior year.
- Declare oneself Latinx or Hispanic
- possess a permanent U.S. residence.
Summary
Every year, the National Hispanic Recognition Program is what most Hispanic students look forward to. for you to be eligible you must attend a small town or rural high school, or identify as Black, African American, Latino, Hispanic, Indigenous, or Native. Also, you must have passed at least two different AP exams in grades eight, nine, or ten; or the PSAT 10 in the spring of 2023.
