SAT scores 2026: How NYS students performed
New York students outperformed students nationwide on the SAT, according to recently released data from the College Board. Credit: Getty Images/izusek
New York's Class of 2026 had a higher mean SAT score than the national average and the state's highest participation rate since 2020, according to a Newsday analysis.
Data recently released by the College Board details how the more than 127,000 students who took the standardized exam in New York during the 2025-26 school year performed. Long Island-specific data was not available.
Here is a closer look at the Empire State's results:
New York versus the nation
New York’s test-takers achieved a mean SAT score of 1,053, up eight points from last year and outperforming the national mean for the fifth straight year. The national mean score for the Class of 2026 was 1,045.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- New York's Class of 2026 had a mean SAT score of 1,053, up eight points from last year and outperforming the national mean for the fifth straight year, an analysis of College Board data found.
- A total of 127,180 high school seniors took the SAT in New York during the 2025-26 school year, representing 63% of all those eligible, according to the College Board. That's the highest percentage since the Class of 2020.
- The most popular intended major for New York’s SAT test-takers was business, followed by clinical sciences.
The last time that New York’s high schoolers underperformed when compared with the national mean score was in 2021. That year, students statewide had a mean score of 1,057, compared with the national mean score of 1,060, according to the College Board.
New York’s highest scores in five years
New York’s mean score of 1,053 for 2026 was the highest among its SAT test-takers since 2022, while the percentage of students statewide in the highest-scoring subgroup was also the most since 2022.
This year, 9% of students statewide had SAT scores between 1,400-1,600, equaling the national average. By comparison, New York’s percentage of students scoring 1,400-1,600 was 8% in 2024 and 2025, 7% for 2023, and 9% for 2022, according to the College Board.
Statewide, high schoolers achieved higher scores on the SAT’s math portion this year with 11% of test-takers earning the highest scores of 700-800, while 9% of students achieved that mark in the test’s reading and writing portion. The 11% scoring at 700-800 in math was the state’s highest percentage since 2022, when that figure was also 11%, according to the College Board.
New York’s participation rates
A total of 127,180 high school seniors took the SAT in New York, representing 63% of all those eligible. That's the highest percentage since the Class of 2020, when 160,484, or 79%, of the state’s estimated population of high school graduates took the test, according to the College Board.
New York's participation rate dipped to 55% in 2021. That year, only 1.5 million students nationwide took the SAT at least once, down from 2.2 million the prior year, largely due to "widespread COVID-related disruptions," according to the College Board.
"I think it’s encouraging to see more students participating in the SAT again," Baldwin High School Assistant Principal Stephen Saravia said. "Even with many colleges offering test-optional admissions, students recognize that having an SAT score gives them additional options when applying to colleges. As educators, we want students to have as many opportunities available to them as possible, and taking the SAT can be one part of that process."
Most popular majors
The most popular intended major for New York’s SAT test-takers was business, which was selected by 21,860, or 17%, of students. This represents the fourth straight year that business was the top intended major statewide by graduates who took the SAT, according to the College Board.
This year’s second most popular intended major was clinical sciences, selected by 19,711, or 15% of test-takers. Clinical sciences had regularly been the most popular intended major statewide until 2023, when 13% of test-takers selected that field compared with 14% for business.
Other popular intended majors for this year’s test-takers in New York were engineering, biological sciences and visual arts, which were respectively selected by 15,660 (12%), 13,724 (11%) and 11,661 (9%) of students, the College Board said.
Institutions receiving SAT score reports
While more than 127,000 New York students took the SAT, only 52,210 — less than half — designated that their score reports be sent to higher education institutions.
The institution receiving the most SAT score reports from New York test-takers was Stony Brook University, which received reports from 14,067 students and was the top school for the second straight year. Stony Brook’s figure accounted for 27% of all score reports statewide sent to higher education institutions, followed by Binghamton University with 9,758 reports received and SUNY University at Buffalo with 7,941 reports received, according to the College Board.
Before Stony Brook took over the top spot in 2025, Binghamton had previously received the most SAT score reports every year since 2020, when CUNY's University Application Processing Center led the way with 28,997 reports — 25.9% of the total reports sent, the College Board said. The center is a centralized office that handles undergraduate and transfer applications for the City University of New York.
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
