Just three Black students were admitted to elite Stuyvesant High School’s ninth-grade class of 777 in the last school year, according to the latest statistics from the city’s education department.
The new statistics are in keeping with a pattern that has persisted for years at the city’s eight specialized public high schools, which are some of the most competitive and well-regarded schools in the city.
Shortly before taking office, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he would not seek to change the specialized high school entrance exam, which critics say exacerbates segregation in the system.
In 2025, just eight Black students made the cut for Stuyvesant, while 10 were admitted in 2024.
Every year, the tiny number of Black students admitted to the vaunted school captures headlines, and it has become shorthand for the persistent lack of diversity in the city’s public school system.
Many integration advocates have denounced the Specialized High School Admissions Test or SHSAT, which determines entry into the rigorous schools. Supporters of the test have defended it as an objective measure that rewards achievement.
Past efforts to replace the SHSAT have failed. Mamdani said while campaigning last fall that he has no plans to get rid of the SHSAT.
That marked a shift. Mamdani — who attended The Bronx School of Science — had said during his Assembly campaign years earlier that he favored abolishing the test. In an interview on WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show” last summer, he called the low number of Black and Latino students admitted to the schools “jarring,” and said he hoped to address underlying inequities by boosting resources for all schools.
This year, 30 of the 726 students admitted to Mamdani's alma mater were Black.
City Hall did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest specialized high school admissions numbers. In a statement about the overall admissions data, Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels acknowledged “more work ahead.”
"As we continue working to make our schools safer, more rigorous, and more integrated across every borough, I remain committed to building a system where every child, in every neighborhood, has access to a high-quality education where they can learn, thrive, and grow into tomorrow's leaders,” he said.
The city said approximately 26,100 eighth graders took the SHSAT this year, and about 4,000 received an offer based on their score. Just 140 Black students received an offer to any of the specialized schools.
About 800 students who just missed the cutoff will be invited to the Discovery program, “which provides opportunities for disadvantaged students” to attend one of the specialized schools.
In addition to the three Black students, Stuyvesant's freshman class includes three Native American students, 21 Latino students, 39 multiracial students, 133 white students and 534 Asian students. The races of 44 students are "unknown," according to data.
“The release of NYC's specialized high school offer numbers has become its own Groundhog Day,” said Nyah Berg, executive director of New York Appleseed, which advocates for integrated schools. “Every year we look at the glaring disparities in these numbers, and every year nothing is done about them. The question for City leaders continues to be how many years must pass before we address the stain of segregation on admissions to schools held up as some of the best in the country, yet among the most segregated?”
Overall, officials said 70,100 eighth graders applied to high schools across the city, with 58% receiving an offer to their first choice, and 82% receiving an offer to their first three choices.
