Thomas Jefferson High School’s number of students named national merit semifinalists decreases by over half year to year

  • Fairfax County Public Schools - Virginia

Incidents

Issues

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology garnered controversy in 2021 after replacing its merit-based admissions system with a more equity-focused admissions process. On September 18, 2024, Fairfax County Public Schools sent out an email stating “191 FCPS Students Named 2025 National Merit Semifinalists.” However, the organization Coalition for TJ revealed that this is the lowest number in over a decade and a sharp decline from the previous year which was 264. That is a nearly 38% decrease year to year.

Coalition for TJ also revealed for Thomas Jefferson High School specifically that the number of merit semifinalists decreased by over half. There were 165 semifinalists in 2024. That number decreased to 81 for 2025 merit semifinalists. Coalition for TJ stated:

This is despite the fact that class sizes at TJ were increased from approximately 450 per class to 550 per class. So 81 out of 550 versus 165 out of 450. Quite a decline.

Fairfax County Public Schools sent out an email bragging about its number of merit semifinalists.
Fairfax County Public Schools had a sharp decline in merit semifinalists.
Thomas Jefferson High School had its merit semifinalists decrease by over half.