The National Hispanic Recognition Program recognizes outstanding Latino and Hispanic high school students. The NHRP is not a scholarship program, but it provides students with a certificate of recognition that ca be shared with colleges or scholarship granting organizations. NHRP is the oldest of College Board’s recognition programs. The organization has more recently added separate recognition programs for Black, Indigenous, and rural students. The NHRP is distinct from the National Merit Scholarship Program, which is administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
NHRP used to be based exclusively on PSAT/NMSQT score, but College Board has now opened the program to reflect a wider range of academic achievements. It no longer caps the number of students who can qualify for recognition (it had previously been limited to the top 2.5% of scorers). Students can qualify in sophomore or junior year.
PSAT scores vary greatly by state, so there is not a single national cutoff. Instead, College Board looks at the top 10% of scorers by state on the PSAT/NMSQT and PSAT 10. It has not released state-by-state cutoffs. If you see sites that have posted regional score cutoffs, those are from the prior version of the program.
In addition to qualifying via the PSAT, you can also qualify with at least 2 AP scores of 3 or better. If you have listed your Latino or Hispanic background in your College Board account, you will automatically be invited to apply for recognition based on your PSAT and AP scores. If you believe that you have been overlooked, you can apply here on your own.
For the class of 2025 and 2026, NHRP applications will open in Winter 2024. College Board has not yet announced the application deadline. Students who receive recognition will be notified in August 2024. Students can also see their status in the My Profile section of Big Future. This is also where students can print a certificate of recognition.
The qualifying standards for sophomore and juniors are largely the same. They differ as to what exams count toward the program.
Sophomores
- Must have a 3.5 GPA or higher at the time they are applying. Weighted and unweighted GPAs are considered.
- Must have a permanent address in the United States, a U.S. territory or U.S. military base, or attend a Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) school. U.S. citizenship is not required.
- Must identify as Latino or Hispanic
- Must have taken the PSAT/NMSQT in fall 2022 OR at least 2 distinct AP Exams in 8th or 9th grade.
Juniors
- Must have a 3.5 GPA or higher at the time they are applying. Weighted and unweighted GPAs are considered.
- Must have a permanent address in the United States, a U.S. territory or U.S. military base, or attend a DoDEA school. U.S. citizenship is not required.
- Must identify as Latino or Hispanic
- Must have taken the PSAT 10 in spring 2022 OR the PSAT/NMSQT in fall 2022 OR at least 2 distinct AP Exams in 8th, 9th, or 10th grade.
Hi Art, great information on this board for sure, thanks so much. My son who is of Dominican descent lives in NY and scored 1370 on October’s PSAT. He has a 3.9 GPA. While we haven’t heard anything, was wondering if you thought that was enough to merit consideration for the NHRP
Robert,
I also saw your follow-up post that NY’s cutoff was 1330 this year. Thank you.
This should mean that your son was invited to apply for recognition. Is that what NHRP told you? His GPA is well above the 3.5 needed to receive recognition.
Hi Art, since he didn’t check off to share his PSAT scores publicly, he had to self-nominate. We’ve done that and are waiting to hear back. Thanks again for the great info here.
Thanks for the tip, Rob. I hope it all works out.
Hi, My daughter recieved an invitation because of her psat score which was 1370 (we live in CA), but her GPA is currently a 3.1. Does she have a chance at getting recognized?
Elisa,
To receive recognition, students must “have a junior, mid-year, cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher.”
Hi Art, as an FYI, just spoke with NHRP and the score in NY was 1330 this year.
My son received the invitation letter yesterday and now I am wondering if his 4.3 Weighted GPA will be enough. I do not know exactly what his unweighted GPA is. The form clearly says GPA must be on a 4.0 but it also says provide the higher of W or UW. It sounds very confusing for me.
This is what the application says:
“Please provide the student’s cumulative GPA at the mid-point of junior year. The GPA must be provided on a 4.0 scale. If the school calculates both weighted and unweighted GPAs, provide the higher of the two. Failure to provide a GPA will deem your application incomplete.”
I emailed the College Board and the answer was this:
“Thank you for your interest in the National Hispanic Recognition Program.
He may be considered with a weighted or unweighted whichever the school fills out in the Verification Form. The GPA must be 3.5 or above.”
Please let us know if you have any other questions, or if we can assist you further.”
Gustavo,
Your son is all set. You are right that talking about a 4.3 GPA on a 4.0 scale is a little odd, but that’s convention and is what College Board means. There are some schools that report grades, for example, on a 0-100 scale. The representative is referring to the fact that the school must fill out the verification form. I’m not sure why they would not use the 4.3.
How are students notified if they are eligible to apply to the Hispanic Recognition Program? My son got a 1270 PSAT score and we live in Arkansas. His GPA is 4.07. Thank you. Ana
Ana,
I believe that notifications have already been sent. Unfortunately, Arkansas falls in the South region, which has the highest qualifying scores each year.
I may be wrong but according to the map, AR is in the Southwest region along with TX, OK and NM. I read in other forums the qualifying score for that region was 1290, last year it was 1270. I leave the contact information so you can verify that.
Contact NHRP
Email NHRP or call 866-545-8467.
Thank you for the correction, Gustavo. My map reading skills failed me on that one. Yes, I’ve received confirmation that the Southwest region was 1290 this year.
Art:
Do you know if students invited to apply with the qualifying GPA are automatically awarded? Is there any further cut? The invitation letter says my son scored on the top 2% of Hispanics in his region ( we are in TX), I guess that was the first cut.
Gustavo,
Unlike National Merit, there is no further competition against other students. Students who have the requisite GPA and have their eligibility approved by their school will receive recognition.
Does USC offer their half tuition presidential scholarship to NHRP finalists or only National Merit finalists?
Jack,
You should check with USC about something that valuable. AFAIK, only National Merit is used as a qualifier.
If im from missouri and got a 1260 should I apply and see if I get in?
Irfaun,
I believe Missouri is in the Midwest region, where the cutoff is higher than 1260.
Hello. We are from California. Our son received an invitation to NHRP this year, his PSAT score was 1340. We would like to know if there is a downside (reporting a lower best score) by adding his name to the NHRP list. His best ACT score is 30 which equals a SAT 1370. HIs best SAT score is 1350. Thank you for all you do.
Danielle,
The scores you submit to NHRP are not shared with colleges, so I don’t know of any downside. Congratulations to your son!
Art:
I meet all requirements from the scoring, is there a possibility that I won’t be accepted or am I guaranteed recognition
Jake,
As long as you meet all of the requirements and properly submit your application and supporting documents, you will receive recognition. NHRP is not a competition.
My son qualifies for the NHRP. Do you see any downside to submitting this recognition to colleges? For example, if he submitted his NHRP letter to Boston University he could qualify for the Presidential Scholarship. But let’s say his actual SAT or ACT score comes in very high and maybe he would qualify for a Trustee Scholarship which is for full tuition vs partial. Would he only be granted the lessor scholarship because he submitted the NHRP?
Michele,
For scholarship questions — especially ones involving large $$$ — I’d recommend going right to the school. Usually colleges are interested in wooing the best candidates with their scholarship dollars, so I doubt that BU would penalize your son for being extra qualified. I’d check.
Art:
If I received an invitation and I got 1400 on the PSAT and have a 4.0 weighted GPA, will that be enough to get recognition? Also, do you know if getting it will help me with college applications?
Mary,
I assume that you are class of 2020. You should have already been invited to apply, as your 1400 is high enough. Your 4.0 GPA is high enough, as well.
It’s a nice honor and some schools will look at it favorably. You should be proud of the achievement. Keep in mind, though, that it doesn’t provide a lot of additional information to them. If you did well on the PSAT, you’ll probably do well on the SAT. And colleges will obviously see your grades.
How do they decide what is a qualifying score? We live in Tx so my daughter easily made the cutoff but I’m just curious why LA, FL, etc.. are so much higher.
Sheila,
The number of students recognized is based on the population of Hispanic/Latinx students in a region, but high scoring students are not spread uniformly across the country. Income levels, parental education, and school funding all vary and can all play a role.
My son is a junior and received an invitation to apply for NHRP (SW region). He scored 1380 and has 4.04 weighted GPA. He just submitted his application. His sister is a sophomore and scored 1290; she will take it next year when it counts. She is ranked 2/465 with a 4.229 weighted GPA. Both kids take only PAP/AP everything, the highest math and science plus dual credit courses and are very well-rounded (competitive piano, will letter all 4 years in golf, etc). Their ISD has highest grade from state board (three straight As). Just wondering where they fall. Is there a list of NHRP semifinalist and/or finalists? I found the list of Semifinalist for last few years for NMSP. I cannot find a list by state and city for NHRP. Please advise.
Virginia,
Sorry for the delayed reply. Unlike the National Merit competition, the NHRP is cut-and-dried. Students are invited to apply based on SAT score and are recognized — technically there aren’t semifinalists or finalists — as long as they meet the qualifications on GPA and Hispanic/Latino background and check all of the appropriate boxes on the application. Given his numbers, your son should receive a certificate of recognition this September.
College Board does not publicly release a list of honorees, which is unfortunate.
Hi Art,
We are filling out the verification form and they ask for Title after the parent’s name. What kind of title are they looking for? Job title, honorific, etc.?
Thanks in advance!
Ted,
It looks like they are just duplicating the layout of the School Official/Teacher section, where job title makes sense. For a parent, I think all that is needed is PARENT.
Mr Sawyer,
My son (class of 2020) did not receive an invitation in February although his score pSAT score in Texas was 1300 and his GPA is 3.76. Do you think he’ll be recognized in Sept, 2019? I’m concerned because his NMSC Selection index score was 187 as he scored very well in math. Your thoughts?
Jill,
The 1300 should be high enough for Texas. It’s possible that your son did not mark his ethnicity in his registration materials. You can contact Scholars Apply about self-nomination and, I believe, still be able to make the July 1 deadline. The application requires verification by the school, so you’ll want to get things rolling before summer break. Good luck.
Dear Mr. Sawyer,
My daughter has ha GPA of 4.3 she is in the south region and her SAT was 1310, would she still be considered and has a chance or it needs to be 1370 or higher?
Thanks!
Lorey,
Unfortunately, College Board has really made it hard to get reliable information on the current state of the program. Her GPA is strong enough, but I don’t know whether the 1310 will qualify her.
My daughter has a 5.07 GPA and scored a 1400 on the PSAT in Texas. She applied for National Merit Hispanic Society and National Merit Society, but we have heard nothing from either one. Would our contact be via mail, email, College Board, etc? Thank you.
D,
National Hispanic Scholars will be notified by email. I don’t believe notifications have gone out yet. You can contact Scholars Apply for more details. It looks like your daughters score and GPA will qualify her.
Students are automatically considered for National Merit honors (not related to NHRP) after taking the PSAT. Your daughter’s PSAT score is not high enough to be named as a Semifinalist in Texas. It may be high enough for her to be a Commended student. Those notifications have recently been sent to schools by NMSC.
Any indication of when and how students will be notified? The guidance is sort of confusing. The application instruction page on the College Board website says that recipients will be notified in fall (no month indicated) and they will be mailed a certificate. It says only those who did not receive the honor will be notified via email. But, elsewhere on the College Board website, its says that certificates are mailed to the schools in September and the candidate is notified via email if they receive the recognition.
Finally, from this blog post from last year, it seems like certificates were mailed “to the students” sometime during the 2nd week of September for the 2019 class. Should the 2020 class be expected the certificates to be arriving at their home this week or next week? Or will they be mailed to the school this year? Or should the students be checking their email for the announcement? It is a little frustrating that so little information is released about this program and the little bit that is out there has conflicting details.
Terry,
The application instruction page is correct. Another parent called last week: “I was told on Friday when I called for information that email notifications had gone out on Thursday to those that DID NOT get in and that “Certificates” will be mailed out on Monday September 16th, 2019 and to look out for a white envelope from the College Board.”
I answered too hastily last night when I said that students would receive notice via email.
I applied for the program in February and live in Seattle. My PSAT score was a 1400 and my nonweighted GPA on a 4 point scale is a 3.955. I have not received an email saying I did not receive recognition but have not received anything in the mail yet. Should I be worried?
John,
In this case, I think it’s just a matter of no news is good news. The mail is probably just slow to arrive. I would try calling Scholarship America, which administers the program for College Board. Your scores and GPA are high enough to have qualified.
Hi Art,
I got the certificate for NHRP in the mail today but I’m not sure what it means. Do you know if it helps in getting a scholarship?
Congratulations, Mary! There is no master list of scholarships available to recognized students. This thread on College Confidential is a bit outdated but gives an idea of some of the options. Schools that offer NHRP awards will generally list them on their scholarships page(s).
The link the the thread on College Confidential doesn’t seem to work. Could you repost it or post the entire link?
Michael,
New threads are popping up all the time, so I would recommend going to the general topic board: https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hispanic-students/ .
Thanks so much for all your help. 🙂
I applied for the NHRP in the spring and have not received any email saying that I did not get accepted. Lately, I’ve actually been getting emails from colleges congratulating me for becoming a National Hispanic scholar; however, I have not received my certificate through the mail. Is there any way I can find out if it was suppose to arrive?
Gabe,
Call 1-866-545-8467 and ask for the National Hispanic Recognition Program. Hopefully they can let you know your status.
Hello,
what is the cutoff score for the West?
Arianna,
I don’t have the cutoff for the class of 2020 for the West. Students with qualifying scores were notified earlier this year. If you are in the class of 2021 and thinking ahead, you can estimate that you’ll want to get a 1300 or above on this year’s PSAT.
Hello, I am in the graduating class of 2021 . What is the projected score cut off for the Southwest?
V,
The previous year’s cutoff is the best estimate for future years. The Southwest was at 1290 for the class of 2019. You’ll want to target 1300+.
a junior student that just got his PSAT score, when does he apply for Hispanic Merit? or is he too late to apply? What is the estimated cutoff score for Florida for students graduating in 2021? For Hispanic Merit, do you use the PSAT or the SAT?
Reina,
The PSAT scores and AP scores are used, not SAT scores. Juniors are automatically entered as long as they note Hispanic background during PSAT or AP sign-up. The recent changes to the program make it difficult to state a cutoff. You can find more information here: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/plan-for-college/for-educators/national-recognition-programs
Once you receive the award, are there any additional steps to do?
Javi,
That’s it! Students receive a letter of recognition, but there are no further steps.
Hi Art. Thank you for providing all this helpful information! My son is currently a junior and attends high school in NY; in October 2019, he scored a 1370 on the PSAT. Do you think that score will be good enough to qualify for the NHRP representing the Middle States this year (2020)?
BRAZUSA,
Yes, a 1370 should be high enough this year.