Specialized high school admissions debate continues over test, access and racial disparities

Concerns about racial disparities across the city’s nine specialized high schools — which include Bronx High School of Science and the High School of American Studies at Lehman College — were raised once more by two city council members. In a letter to Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York City Public Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels Sept. 8, officials proposed a new, more “holistic” admissions process.

Currently, the sole factor in acceptance to these schools is the Specialized High School Admissions Test, a three-hour long exam with about 100 questions on math and English Language Arts. A state law passed in 1971 requiring this test for admission to Bronx Science, Stuyvesant High School and Brooklyn Technical High School. Other schools followed suit in later years when they were established.

Specialized high schools are selective and tuition-free, offering advanced courses that aim to set students up well for college.

Council member Eric Dinowitz, who is chair of the city council’s committee on education and a Bronx Science alumnus, shared his own perspective on the disparities with The Press. He believes enriching academic and extracurricular programs before high school is key to improving diversity at specialized schools.

In 2026, 56.5 percent of offers to specialized high schools went to Asian students and 23.5 percent went to white students — a contrast to the 6.5 percent of offers to Hispanic students, 5.4 percent to multiracial students, 3.5 percent to Black students and 0.4 percent to Native American students, according to New York City Public Schools.

This data also includes Brooklyn Latin School; High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College; Queens High School for Sciences at York College; and Staten Island Technical High School. The ninth specialized school, Fiorella H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Performing Arts, bases admissions on an audition process.

Supporters of the admissions test say it maintains objectivity, and critics argue it favors families who can afford expensive test preparation services and doesn’t reflect the city’s diverse public school system.

Stuyvesant High School, the oldest specialized high school in the city, made headlines in July when only three of its 777 admission offers went to Black students, according to New York City Public Schools.

Bronx High School of Science, located at 75 W. 205th St. and regarded for its STEM curriculum, has a student body of 2,953 that is 60.3 percent Asian, 19.7 percent white, 10.1 percent Hispanic, 5.5 percent Black, 3.4 percent two or more races, 0.6 percent American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.4 percent Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, according to the U.S. News and World Report’s 2026 to 2027 data.

Fifty percent of these students are economically disadvantaged, according to the U.S. News and World Report.

In 2026, amid 726 admissions offers, about 62 percent went to Asian students, 17 percent to white students, 6 percent to Hispanic students, 5 percent to multiracial students, 4 percent to Black students and 0 percent to Native American students, according to New York City Public Schools.

The High School of American Studies, located at 2925 Goulden Ave. and known for its history courses and access to Lehman College facilities, follows a similar pattern.

Of its 393 students, 40.2 percent are white, 22.1 percent Hispanic, 21.6 percent Asian, 7.6 percent Black, 6.1 percent two or more races, 1.3 percent American Indian or Alaska Native and 1 percent Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, according to the U.S. News and World Report’s 2026 to 2027 data.

In 2026, of 139 admissions offers at the school, about 78 percent went to Asian students, 8 percent to Black students, 4 percent to Hispanic students, 4 percent to white students, 2 percent to multiracial students and 1 percent to Native American students, according to New York City Public Schools.

Thirty-nine percent of these students are economically disadvantaged, according to the U.S. News and World Report.

Bronx Science deferred comment to the city’s department of education, which did not respond to request for comment. American Studies also did not respond to requests for comment.

In the letter requesting admissions reform — authored by Brooklyn Council member Lincoln Restler and Queens Council member Nantasha Williams — lawmakers proposed expanding the application process to include a “holistic review” taking into account the admissions test as well as middle school performance, teacher recommendations, extracurricular activities and essays. Schools should also add more seats, the council members wrote.

Restler and Williams also stated the city’s department of education should offer a rigorous math curriculum for middle schoolers that prepares students for Algebra 1 in eighth grade, so that all students are prepared for content covered on the admissions exam. The council members also referred to a resolution introduced in January that called on the state to repeal the 1971 legislation requiring the admissions test, and urged the state legislature to model a new process based on their suggestions.

Programs are already in place to help low-income students, such as the Determination, Resilience, Enthusiasm, Ambition and Motivation, or DREAM, Program which offers free test preparation for eligible students. There is also the Discovery Program, which offers a summer course to students from low-income families who score just below the admissions cutoff that, if passed, could help them get into a specialized school.

The lawmakers suggested altering the city’s Discovery Program to focus on the most disadvantaged school districts, and expanding DREAM to increase its number of students and available hours.

Dinowitz believes that it’s clear the city needs to be doing more to prepare kids for the admissions exam, and the exam itself isn’t to blame.

“It starts with rigorous education long before they even consider sitting down for the test,” Dinowitz said, later adding, “You do not have to get rid of a test that has proven time and again to work … to expand programs to allow other kids to flourish.”

Focusing on the test is a “quick fix,” he said, that won’t solve anything. He believes programs like debate, hands-on science, arts and civic education need to be expanded for the city to see change.

Dinowitz said he hears constituent stories of immigrant, working-class families that worked hard in school, and the admissions exam was an “incredible opportunity” for them. Other kids should feel that, but through specialized programming that reaches more students, he said.

In his own experience, Dinowitz said the kids he went to school with at Bronx Science were from working- and middle-class families. Blaming the admissions test is an easy scapegoat, he said.

“It diminishes the hard work of the students and the families who work to get their kids into a school,” he said.