You don't have to travel to Silicon Valley, Boston, or an elite private school to find the nation's top-ranked STEM high school. According to the newly released 2026-27 U.S. News & World Report rankings, it's right here in Monmouth County. High Technology High School in Lincroft has been named the No. 1 STEM high school in the United States. It also ranks No. 1 among all public high schools in New Jersey and No. 28 among public high schools nationwide.
And this isn't a one-year surprise. High Tech's own records show that U.S. News has ranked it the nation's No. 1 STEM high school in 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025, and now 2026. It has also held the No. 1 spot among all New Jersey high schools for three consecutive years. In 2023, the U.S. Department of Education named it a National Blue Ribbon School for the third time, following previous honors in 1998 and 2003.
The school itself is easy to miss. Located on the campus of Brookdale Community College, High Technology High School is a full-time, four-year career academy within the Monmouth County Vocational School District. It opened in 1991 as a collaboration between MCVSD and Brookdale, with a curriculum focused on science, mathematics, technology, and engineering. Today, students can take courses ranging from biomedical and civil engineering to software engineering, digital electronics, multivariable calculus, computer science, and engineering design.
Getting through the door is an accomplishment of its own. High Tech says it selects just 75 students each year from a pool of more than 300 applicants representing more than 45 school districts across Monmouth County. Applicants must be eighth-grade Monmouth County residents, attend an information session, submit the required application materials, and take admissions exams in mathematics and English language arts. Grades account for 30 percent of the admissions score, while the two entrance exams account for the remaining 70 percent.
What happens after students get in helps explain the national recognition. Every course at High Tech is taught at the honors level. In 2026, 213 students took 391 AP exams, and 98.12 percent of those students earned a score of 3 or higher on at least one exam. Among this year's 67 graduates, every student is headed to a four-year college. The Class of 2026 also included 39 National Merit Commended Students, 13 semifinalists, and 11 finalists.
The education isn't confined to classrooms. Every High Tech senior completes a semester-long internship with a university or college, research institution, company, or other organization in New Jersey, New York, or Pennsylvania. Students also complete an engineering capstone course in which teams identify a problem, conduct research, design an original solution, develop and test a prototype, and present their results. Sample projects listed by the school include "Coral Speech," "SwimMe," and "Protecting Alzheimer Adults."
High Tech isn't the only Monmouth County school with reason to celebrate. Three of its sister academies in the Monmouth County Vocational School District also landed high in the new U.S. News rankings. Biotechnology High School in Freehold ranks No. 4 in New Jersey and No. 72 nationally; the Marine Academy of Science and Technology at Sandy Hook ranks No. 11 in the state and No. 156 nationally; and the Academy of Allied Health and Science in Neptune ranks No. 19 in New Jersey and No. 348 nationally.
U.S. News evaluated about 27,000 eligible public high schools for its 2026-27 rankings and ranked nearly 18,000. The national rankings use six performance indicators that examine areas including college readiness, college curriculum breadth, state assessment performance, graduation rates, and how well schools serve all students, including underserved populations. U.S. News worked with research firm RTI International on the methodology and used data from the 2023-24 school year. When the results were tallied for STEM schools, High Technology High School came out on top nationwide.
That's a pretty remarkable distinction for a school tucked onto a college campus in Lincroft. More than 300 students compete for just 75 places in each incoming class. Those who make it enter a school where honors-level academics, engineering projects, research, AP coursework, and real-world internships are part of the high school experience. This year, U.S. News says no STEM high school in America ranks higher.