Tech High Schools: STEM-Focused Public and Private Options

Last updated: November 10, 2026

Tech high schools are high schools built around science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) or around hands-on career and technical training. They come in five main types: STEM magnet schools, specialized exam schools, residential state STEM academies, career and technical high schools, and private STEM-strong schools. Admission ranges from a simple lottery to a single test to a full holistic review, and most families apply in the fall of 8th grade. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia, for example, offers 550 freshman seats after a review of grades, essays and a problem-solving test. Below you will find how each type works, how admission works, the 2026-27 dates at well-known schools, and how to choose for your child.

The strongest tech high school applicants already have a subject they love. Most find it in the middle school years, long before the application opens. Show me how to find it →

What is a tech high school?

"Tech high school" is not an official category. It usually means one of two things:

A STEM-focused academic school, which prepares students for college with advanced math, science and computer science.
A career and technical high school, which adds hands-on training for specific careers. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) counted 1,587 public career and technical schools in 2024-25, about 1.6% of the 99,073 public schools in operation.

Many STEM schools are magnet schools. NCES defines a magnet as a school or program designed to reduce racial isolation and/or "to provide an academic or social focus on a particular theme (e.g., science/math, performing arts, gifted/talented, or foreign language)." It counted 3,015 public magnet schools in 2021-22, the latest year with a total, and 818 of them were secondary or high schools.

The five types of tech high schools

Type	Example	Who can apply	How admission works
STEM magnet	A-TECH (Las Vegas); Thomas Jefferson (Virginia)	District or regional residents	A lottery with a grade bar, or a holistic review
Specialized exam school	Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech (NYC)	City residents in 8th or 9th grade	One test, the SHSAT
Residential state STEM academy	IMSA (Illinois), NCSSM (North Carolina)	State residents	Grades, recommendations, tests, essays
Career and technical high school	District career and technical academies	Usually district residents	Lottery, application or open enrollment
Private STEM-strong school	Day and boarding schools	Anyone	Test, essays, recommendations, interview

STEM magnet schools: grades and a lottery

A STEM magnet is a public school with a STEM theme, open to students across a district. Admission is often a lottery, sometimes with a minimum bar.

Las Vegas shows how it works. Clark County School District (CCSD) says entry to its magnets is "criteria-based, interest-based, or audition-based." Families choose up to three magnet schools or programs, and qualified applications go into a computerized random lottery. For the 2027-28 school year, the application opened October 5, 2026 and closes January 12, 2027 at 3 p.m.

At CCSD's Advanced Technologies Academy (A-TECH), applicants must be in 8th or 9th grade. A-TECH offers seven magnet career and technical programs. Its STEM-based programs require 16 qualification points from the 8th grade first-semester report card, based on overall GPA and grades in math, English and science; there are "no bonus points for advanced or honors courses." Its two interest-based programs, Business Management and Graphic Design, have no criteria.

In a lottery, the grades that count may be from the first semester of 8th grade. The middle school GPA calculator shows where your child stands now.

A lottery decides who gets the seat. What your child does with a love of science before 8th grade is entirely up to your family. Send me the insider guide for parents →

Specialized exam schools: one test decides

New York City has nine Specialized High Schools. Eight admit students by one test, the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT): Bronx High School of Science, Brooklyn Latin School, Brooklyn Technical High School, High School for Mathematics, Science and Engineering at City College, High School of American Studies at Lehman College, Queens High School for the Sciences at York College, Staten Island Technical High School and Stuyvesant High School. The ninth, LaGuardia, admits by audition.

The city's rule is plain: "The SHSAT is the only criteria used to admit students to the eight testing Specialized High Schools." Students rank the schools when they register, and offers go in score order until seats fill.

Key facts for fall 2027 entry:

Who: New York City residents in 8th grade, or in 9th grade for the first time.
Registration: October 6 to October 30, 2026, in MySchools.
Test: on computer, November 14 or 15 for students at private, charter, K-12 or 6-12 schools; November 18 at school for students in public middle schools that end in 8th grade; November 21 for 9th graders.
Offers: high school offers release March 3, 2027.
Discovery: a summer program that lets some students from low-income backgrounds who score below the cutoff earn a seat.

From the schools' own sites: Stuyvesant was founded in 1904 and offers 31 AP courses and 112 electives. Bronx Science enrolls more than 2,900 students and lists nine Nobel laureates among its alumni. Brooklyn Tech, founded in 1922, has more than 5,600 students.

Selective STEM magnets: Thomas Jefferson's holistic review

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST), founded in 1985 and run by Fairfax County Public Schools, takes the opposite approach to NYC. It uses a holistic review and offers 550 freshman seats to the highest-evaluated students.

Only 8th graders who live in Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun or Prince William County or the City of Falls Church can apply for 9th grade. To be eligible, your child must:

have completed, or be enrolled in, a full-year honors Algebra 1 course;
be enrolled in honors science;
be enrolled in honors English or social studies (or be identified as a Young Scholar);
have a core GPA of 3.5 or higher, unweighted.

Eligible applicants then write a Student Portrait Sheet (four short prompts on skills such as collaboration and resilience) and a problem-solving essay in math or science, in one 90-minute session. Each public middle school is allocated seats equal to 1.5% of its 8th grade class, and the rest are open to all.

For the class entering in fall 2027, applications closed October 30, 2026. The writing session is January 9, 2027, and decisions are released on or before April 30, 2027.

TJ's problem-solving essay asks for the solution and the thinking behind it. A child who has worked through a real research problem has practiced exactly that. Show me the experiments →

Residential state STEM academies

Some states run public boarding high schools for STEM. They are free or low-cost for residents, and students start in 10th or 11th grade, so your child applies later than for other schools.

Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) is a residential academy for grades 10 to 12 in Aurora. Illinois residents apply in the fall of 8th or 9th grade, and there is no fee to apply. Tuition, including housing and meals, is funded by the state for Illinois residents, with a student fee on a sliding scale by family income. Applicants must have completed or be enrolled in Algebra 1 and a high school-level science course, and must submit an SAT or ACT score, with "no minimum." IMSA looks for "the strongest combination of academic achievement, passion for STEM, and the ability to thrive in a residential school." For fall 2027, the Illinois deadline is February 5, 2027, and decisions release April 5, 2027.

North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) is a two-year public residential high school for juniors and seniors, part of the UNC System, with campuses in Durham and Morganton. The Durham campus, founded in 1980, calls itself the nation's first public residential high school focused on STEM. There is no cost for tuition, room, board or textbooks. North Carolina residents apply in 10th grade; the window for the class of 2029 runs October 15, 2026 to January 5, 2027. NCSSM does not accept SAT or ACT scores. It uses its own math test, teacher evaluations, and evidence of STEM interest "as determined by participation in clubs, competitions, supplemental programs, leadership positions, and other related activities."

For more on living away at school, see our guide to boarding schools.

Career and technical high schools

A career and technical high school teaches regular academic courses plus a sequence in a career field, such as engineering, computer science or health. A regular high school may offer some career classes as electives; a technical high school builds the whole program around them. NCES reports that 98% of public school districts offered career and technical education (CTE) at the high school level in 2016-17, and 10% said students could enroll in a district that offers only CTE. So your child may find strong career programs inside your local high school, too.

Private STEM schools

Many private day and boarding schools offer deep STEM programs: advanced math, research courses, engineering labs. Admission is holistic: usually a test, essays, recommendations and an interview. Exeter, for example, requires the Upper Level SSAT or ISEE for 9th grade. Our SSAT guide covers the test, dates and preparation.

How to choose a tech high school for your child

Start with your child, not the name. Does your child light up in the lab, at the keyboard, or in the workshop? A college-prep STEM school and a career and technical school serve different dreams.
Map what you can actually apply to. Most public options require residence in a district, city or state. List the schools open to your address.
Match the admission type to your child. A lottery rewards meeting the bar. An exam school rewards test preparation. A holistic school rewards grades, writing and real STEM interest.
Check the course prerequisites early. TJHSST requires Algebra 1 in 8th grade, and IMSA requires Algebra 1 and high school-level science. These choices are made in 6th and 7th grade.
Visit and ask about research, internships and independent projects, and about the commute and workload.

The schools that ask for more than a score keep asking the same thing: show us real interest in STEM. The strongest evidence is not a long list of activities. It is depth: a project your child cares about, carried from a question to a finished result. For ideas, see science fair project ideas for middle school, summer programs for middle school students and gifted and talented programs.

NCSSM and IMSA both look for proof of real passion for STEM. Picture your child at 13, explaining research they did, guided by a PhD mentor. Send me the insider guide for parents →

Frequently asked questions

What is a tech school high school?

A high school built around STEM or career and technical training, public or private.

What is the best high school for technology?

There is no official ranking. The best school is one your child can attend that fits how your child likes to learn.

What are some good tech high schools in Las Vegas?

Clark County School District runs Advanced Technologies Academy and several career and technical academies. Apply through the CCSD School Choice application; for 2027-28, the deadline is January 12, 2027.

What is the difference between a technical high school and a regular high school?

A technical high school builds the whole program around a career or STEM field. A regular high school may offer some of the same classes as electives.

Do tech high schools require an entrance exam?

Some do. NYC's eight testing Specialized High Schools use only the SHSAT. TJHSST uses a holistic review, many magnets use a lottery, and private schools often require the SSAT or ISEE.

Sources

About learnSTEM

All bright students reach a point where school stops challenging them. learnSTEM provides that challenge: the space to explore a field of their choice, guided by a world-class PhD mentor from a top-20 university, completely one-on-one and on your own schedule. Students finish with a passion for a new subject, a research project they are proud of, and a clear sense of what they want to pursue next.

See if your child qualifies for the STEM Explorers Program → · See if your child qualifies for the STEM Research Program → · Questions about eligibility? Contact us →

"It has only strengthened my love for learning about the world and given me a paper that I am proud to say I've made." — learnSTEM student