Black students received just 3.5% of the roughly 4,000 offers to NYC’s eight specialized high schools this year, according to a Chalkbeat New York article on recently released data. 

Of the recent data compiled, Asian students received more than half of all offers, followed by white students with just over 23%. Hispanic students received 6.5% of offers. 

The stunningly low percentage of Black students accepted to specialized high schools represents just a 0.5% improvement from the previous year. According to Chalkbeat New York, Staten Island Technical High School made only one offer to a Black student out of nearly 300 total offers, which was similar to last year’s statistics at the mid-Island school. 

Stuyvesant High School, arguably the city’s most popular specialized public high school, located in Lower Manhattan, issued only three offers to Black students this year. That number was reported to be the lowest since at least 2014, which is as far back as the city’s public data goes. 

To apply to most of NYC’s specialized high schools, students must take the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT). One exception is LaGuardia High School, which instead requires auditions or portfolio reviews, as it is a performing arts school.

All students in grades eight and nine who are current New York City residents are eligible to take the SHSAT. 

Jenna Lyle, a spokesperson for Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who attended a specialized high school himself, said the mayor would review the data. 

“The mayor believes we must root out the deep racial and economic inequities that persist in our public school system, and our administration will be reviewing these results carefully,” Lyle said. “The young people of New York City are more than a score on a single exam. We are deeply committed to building a public school system where every child has access to an excellent education and every school is rigorous, well-resourced and a place that every child is proud to attend.”

This year, according to Chalkbeat New York, around 800 students were invited into the Discovery program, which gives disadvantaged students who just missed the SHSAT score cutoff another path into specialized high schools.

Discovery has been the subject of ongoing legal battles alleging that it discriminates against Asian American applicants, who typically account for a high percentage of students enrolled in specialized high schools.

Brooklyn City Council Member Lincoln Restler, who is on the council’s Higher Education Committee, said testing should not be the only criterion for enrollment into a specialized high school. He also recommended that the state get involved in adjusting the admission process.

“One in five public school students are Black, but at Stuy, our most prestigious high school, 3 out of approximately 800 incoming freshmen are Black,” he said. “We urgently need state legislation to modify the admissions process. A single test should never be the only factor deciding who gets in and who doesn’t.”