At a Glance
A selective humanities-focused SHSAT school tucked onto a Bronx college campus, where teenagers study American history like undergraduates.
Best suited for
Academically driven kids who love history, reading, and writing — and whose families can handle a longer commute in exchange for a small, college-flavored high school experience.
Overall Rating
Rating = average of 4-year graduation, English Regents college-ready and Regents completion · DOE 2025 report
Bands are Motley's thresholds on a 0–100 scale, not New York State performance levels.
How this is scored→What stands out
- One of only eight SHSAT-specialized high schools in NYC, with about 186 applicants competing for each of 90 seats.
- An American Studies / humanities curriculum unusual among public high schools, paired with rare language offerings like Japanese and Latin.
- Zero suspensions in the surveyed year — exceptionally rare among NYC public schools.
- PTA fundraising of $1,263 per student, roughly 17 times the District 10 average of $74.
- A genuine college-campus setting at Lehman College, with CUNY resources most high schools don't have.
Things to consider
- Admission is gated by the SHSAT — there's no back door, and the cutoff is unforgiving.
- Only 3% of students have IEPs, so families needing substantial special education support should look elsewhere.
- Most students commute in from across the city; long travel times are the norm, not the exception.
- Average class size of about 23 is right at the district average — the small-school feel comes from enrollment size (407 students), not tiny classes.
- Parent satisfaction is 93%, a touch below the district average of 94% — still very high, but worth noting for a school that draws students citywide.
Based on 2024-25 data
School SummaryDistrict 10
District 10 spans a wide swath of the Bronx with mixed school performance, but this specialized SHSAT school isn't really comparable to its district neighbors — it draws its class from across the city, not from the local catchment. Among the peer schools listed, several are elementary, which underscores how different a specialized high school is from the typical District 10 school.
Academics
The school's own proficiency rates aren't included in this dataset, but its admissions profile speaks volumes: roughly 186 applicants compete for each seat through the SHSAT, placing it among the most academically selective public high schools anywhere. For context, the District 10 averages of 45% ELA proficiency and 43.5% math proficiency describe the surrounding Bronx schools, not this one. Curriculum signals — AP courses, rare language offerings like Japanese and Latin, and a humanities spine — point to a college-prep culture rather than test-prep culture.
Culture
The school is exceptionally calm: zero suspensions in the surveyed year against a District 10 average suspension rate of 0.28%. Teacher trust is high across the board — 100% of teachers rate instruction quality positively (well above the district's 91%), and 94% trust their colleagues. Parent trust in the principal hits 98%, and parent satisfaction sits at 93%, essentially tied with the district average despite the much tougher admissions bar. The day-to-day feel reads more like a college seminar series than a typical big-city high school.
Community
The student body is unusually balanced for a specialized school — 38% White, 24% Asian, 17% Hispanic, 9% Black, and 4% multiracial, with a diversity index of 77%. Only 3% of students have IEPs, reflecting the SHSAT gate. The neighborhood around Lehman College is working-class (median household income around $44,000, a quarter of residents below the poverty line), so most families are commuting in from elsewhere — the school's economic need index of 34.4 is moderate but understates how citywide its reach really is.
Neighborhood
Bedford Park is a quieter pocket of the central Bronx anchored by Lehman College itself — residential blocks, mostly renters, with about 14% of households raising children, lower than the citywide share. Median household income sits near $44,000 and roughly a quarter of residents live below the poverty line, while a typical home is valued around $558,000. It's the kind of neighborhood where the college campus does a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of foot traffic and amenities.
The 4 train at Bedford Park Blvd–Lehman College is about a 7-minute walk, the 4 at Kingsbridge Rd is about 10 minutes, and the B/D at Kingsbridge Rd is about 11 minutes.
Survey Results
NYC School Survey (2025) · 199 families responded (51% rate)
Programs & Activities
Admissions Demand
Admission to this Specialized High School is based solely on the score obtained on the Specialized High Schools Admission Test (SHSAT). Students should speak to their guidance counselors in the Fall to register for the SHSAT.
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
NYC DOE InfoHub · 2022-23
PTA Fundraising
Source: DOE Local Law 171 disclosure
Discipline
NYSED Student & Educator Database
Economic Need & Special Populations
How to get in, step by step
High school (9th grade): the SHSAT
High School of American Studies at Lehman College is one of the eight specialized high schools. This school admits on the SHSAT alone — the test score is the only thing that decides a seat.
- High School of American Studies at Lehman CollegeSHSATTest required79 seats
SHSAT registration
- Opened
- Tue, Oct 6
- Closes
- Fri, Oct 30
- Offers
- Wed, Mar 3
The DOE’s published dates.
- 1Register for the SHSAT through MySchools — registration opens with the high school application in the fall, and the city sets the exact dates each year.
- 2Take the test on a computer on your assigned date.
- 3Rank every specialized school you'd attend on your MySchools list; grades, attendance and essays play no part.
- 4Bring your admission ticket and photo ID to the test centre.
Open houses and tours
We haven’t seen open-house dates for this school yet.
From the MySchools admissions calendar, checked weekly.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Is High School of American Studies at Lehman College a good school?
- On Motley, High School of American Studies at Lehman College earns an overall rating of 100/100 — the average of the school's four-year graduation rate, the share of its students scoring college-ready (70+) on the English Regents, and its Regents completion rate, shown out of 100.
- What grades does High School of American Studies at Lehman College serve?
- High School of American Studies at Lehman College serves grades 9 to 12.
- How do students get into High School of American Studies at Lehman College?
- High School of American Studies at Lehman College admits through the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT).
- Is High School of American Studies at Lehman College public, charter, or private?
- High School of American Studies at Lehman College is a public school in NYC Community School District 10.
- What neighborhood is High School of American Studies at Lehman College in?
- High School of American Studies at Lehman College is in Bedford Park, Bronx.