From the U.S. Department of Education press release:

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan named 18 States and the District of Columbia as finalists for more than $3 billion dollars available in federal funding in the second round of the Race to the Top program. Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia applied for the second round of Race to the Top.

The 19 finalists are: Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.

The finalists will next travel to Washington, D.C. to present their plans to the peer reviewers who judged the applications. Finalists will also have to participate in a question and answer period with the peer reviewers. The Department of Education plans to announce the winners of the second round of Race to the Top in September.

For more information, here is the entire press release.