As one of the most prestigious Specialized High Schools in New York City, Stuyvesant High School has once again set a new low in the number of African-American freshmen admitted in the 2025 school year, with only seven. At the same time, the current Asian student ratio of the school is as high as 74%.
It is reported that Stuyvesant High School enrolls about 895 freshmen each year. Last year, only 10 African-American students were admitted. This year, the number has further decreased, accounting for less than 1% of the total number. Although African-American and Hispanic students account for 70% of the student population in New York City public schools, only a handful of them enter the eight special high schools; US News & World Report data shows that Staten Island Technical High School, which is also a special high school, currently has only 0.6% of the total number of African-American students.
Special high schools in New York City use the “Specialized High School Admission Test (SHSAT)” as the only admission criterion. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio tried to abolish the exam system during his tenure to increase the admission rate of African-American and Latino students, but it was ultimately not implemented due to strong backlash from alumni of special high schools and Asian groups.
Lu, who graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 2020, said that the high proportion of Asians in special high schools is no longer news, and there are only single-digit African-American students in her class; “I personally think that the lack of African-American and Hispanic students is not the fault of the exam system. Most of the Asian students in our class come from low-income families, and their parents save money and still support their children to go to cram schools.”
Currently, the New York City Department of Education has a “Discovery Program” to provide students from disadvantaged backgrounds within a specific score range with the opportunity to enter special high schools. The New York City Association of Chinese Origins (CACAGNY) once applied to the court for an injunction, asking the City Department of Education to suspend the project, but was rejected by the judge; the Discovery Program is still being implemented this summer.
A parent of a Chinese student at Stuyvesant High School said that she did not think that the lack of racial diversity would damage the school’s culture and vision. “Screening through exams can ensure that the children in the school have similar learning abilities, and New York itself is the most diverse metropolis. I am not worried that the culture he is exposed to will not be diverse enough.”
Student Lu also believes that changing the special high school examination system is not fair and cannot solve the problem from the root. “Sending students to elite high schools through intensive courses like the Prep4prep program and then providing them with scholarships to complete their studies is the solution to racial inequality.”
