An Austin homeschooler is one of 16,000 finalists for the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Margaret Handel is vying to receive one of the 8,300 scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be given by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation next spring.

About 90 percent of the semifinalists will be named finalists, and more than half of the finalists will receive scholarships and earn the title of Merit Scholar.

About 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the preliminary SAT and qualifying test. The pool of semifinalists — less than 1 percent of the U.S. high school seniors — includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

Semifinalists must submit detailed applications and have an outstanding academic record.