On July 10, 2026, the New York City Department of Education published admissions data for the city's eight specialized high schools. The figures continued a pattern that has drawn legal and civil rights scrutiny: Black and Latino students received a small fraction of offers relative to their share of the overall student population.
Stuyvesant High School offers
At Staten Island Technical High School, nearly 300 offers were made, and only one went to a Black student, according to the Chalkbeat report.
SHSAT and test-taking demographics
Roughly 26,100 students took the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test, which was offered online for the first time. Among test-takers, 17% were Black and 25% were Latino, according to the city's data as reported by Chalkbeat.
The lowest qualifying SHSAT scores for the 2026 admissions cycle varied by school, ranging from 495 for Brooklyn Latin School to 561 for Stuyvesant High School for ninth-grade applicants, according to NYC Public Schools.
Discovery program
The city's Discovery program offers a pathway for students from high-poverty schools or neighborhoods who score just below the SHSAT cutoff. This cycle, 800 students were invited. Of those, 11% were Black, 16% Latino, 62% Asian American, and 7% white, as reported by Chalkbeat.
Eligibility for Discovery requires attendance at a public school where at least 60% of students meet an economic need index, or residence in a high-poverty area, along with other criteria such as receipt of SNAP or welfare benefits, foster care status, English language learner status, or household income at or below the reduced-price lunch threshold. Students who scored 495 or above on the SHSAT are not eligible, according to the NYC Department of Education.
The Discovery program is facing ongoing legal challenges from families who argue it discriminates against Asian American applicants, according to Chalkbeat.
Legal and research context
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has filed a civil rights complaint under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, alleging that the city's exclusive reliance on the SHSAT as the sole admissions criterion has a disparate impact on Black and Latino students. The complaint asserts that the NYC Department of Education has never shown that the test validly and reliably predicts success in specialized high school programs. The fund's filing cites educational experts and social scientists who have criticized high-stakes test-only admissions, though the complaint itself is a legal document and not a peer-reviewed study, so the strength of that assertion is contested.
The complaint parallels prior federal civil rights challenges to single-test admissions at selective public schools elsewhere, according to the fund.
Upcoming changes
A computer-adaptive version of the SHSAT is planned for the 2027 admissions cycle. The digital format will adjust question difficulty based on student responses, which could alter how scores are calculated. SHSAT registration for the 2027 cycle closes on October 30, 2026, and high school offers are scheduled to be sent on March 4, 2027, according to Chalkbeat.
Update - August 30, 2026
On July 14, 2026, Mayor Zohran Mamdani publicly addressed the specialized high school admissions data for the first time, telling a press conference that the administration had begun internal discussions with Chancellor Kamar Samuels and DOE officials on how to address racial inequities tangibly. Mamdani said that "a single test does not reflect the aptitude of students across the city" but stopped short of committing to eliminate the SHSAT, despite having called for its abolition in a 2022 questionnaire before he ran for mayor [11][12].
In August 2026, members of the City Council's Black Steering Committee escalated pressure for legislative action. Deputy Speaker Nantasha Williams, who introduced Resolution 0167-2026 calling on the state legislature to repeal the Hecht-Calandra Act — the 1971 state law requiring the SHSAT for admissions to Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Tech, and Bronx Science — said the council is also seeking meetings with Mamdani and Samuels to discuss broader reforms, including expanded test prep and pipeline programs for students of color [11]. Speaker Julie Menin separately emphasized expanding free test prep and Gifted & Talented programs in Black and Latino communities [11].
NYC Public Schools published additional details about the fall 2026 computer-adaptive SHSAT, confirming that the exam will reduce to 50 questions per section, down from 57 in the 2025 digital format. Under the adaptive model, students will not be able to revisit questions after advancing within a section, a significant change from the 2025 digital version, which allowed navigation back to earlier items [13].