New Jersey has the top high school for STEM — or science, technology, engineering and math — in the nation, according to a recent ranking from U.S. News & World Report.
High Technology High School in Lincroft in Monmouth County topped the news site’s list of the best 500 STEM schools in the country.
U.S. News & World Report used the percentage of students who took and passed math and science Advanced Placement tests in 2022 to rank the top 500 STEM schools from those in its larger 2024 listings of the best high schools in the country. (See where New Jersey’s STEM schools ranked nationally in the chart below.)
The top five New Jersey STEM schools in the ranking are all magnet or specialized high schools run by county vocation-technical school districts. Most specialized high schools require students to take admissions tests to enroll.
In addition to High Technology High School, the top five schools in the nation include BASIS Peoria, in Peoria, Arizona; BASIS Chandler, in Chandler, Arizona; The Early College at Guilford, in Greensboro, North Carolina; and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, in Alexandria, Virginia.
The traditional, regular-admission high school ranking highest in New Jersey for STEM achievement is West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North in Plainsboro, which ranked 58th in the nation.
“College Board’s Advanced Placement program enables willing and academically prepared high school students to pursue college-level studies and earn credit that may allow them to skip introductory college courses,” according to U.S. News.
The STEM AP courses used to calculate the rankings include classes in psychology, calculus, computer science, statistics, biology, chemistry, environmental science and physics.
Stories by Tina Kelley
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Tina Kelley may be reached at tkelley@njadvancemedia.com.