Ward Melville Senior High School
East Setauket · NY · THREE VILLAGE CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT · Public
Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
CENTEREACH HIGH SCHOOL → NEWFIELD HIGH SCHOOL → SMITHTOWN HIGH SCHOOL EAST → COMSEWOGUE HIGH SCHOOL → SACHEM HIGH SCHOOL NORTH → SACHEM HIGH SCHOOL EAST → CONNETQUOT HIGH SCHOOL → BELLPORT SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL →A parent's read
- Where graduates go, as the school itself publishes it. Ward Melville Senior High School publishes where its graduates go (CLASS OF 2026): 188 colleges, including Amherst College, Boston College, Boston University, Brown University.
- 97% graduate on time. Nearly every student who starts 9th grade here finishes in four years — the strongest baseline signal a school can post.
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
Where graduates go — as published by the school
Ward Melville Senior High School publishes its college acceptances (CLASS OF 2026): 188 colleges. See the full list ↓
At a glance
- 25 AP courses offered — Elite
- Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
- 15 calculus classes · 33 physics · 49 chemistry
- AP rigor: 70th percentile nationally
- SAT/ACT participation: Top 3.5% by test-taker volume
- 4-yr grad rate: 98% (Class of 2025 (4-year cohort), NYSED)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts graduation data, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
Their published college acceptances
College acceptances
Ward Melville Senior High School publishes the colleges that admitted its graduates. What follows is copied from that document — 188 colleges, in the document's own order.
Years, as the document states them
CLASS OF 2026
Ivy+ and most selective · 8
Brown University · Columbia University · Cornell University · Harvard University · Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Stanford University · University of Pennsylvania · Yale University
University of California · 2
University of California Berkeley · University of California L.A.
Other California · 3
California Institute of Technology · Harvey Mudd College · University of Southern California
Out of state · 156
Adelphi University · American University · Amherst College · Arizona State University · Auburn University · Barnard College · Belmont University · Bentley University · Berklee College of Music · Boston College · Boston University · Brandeis University · Bryant University · Bucknell University · and 142 more below
Not matched to a college page · 19
CUNY John Jay College · CUNY Macaulay Honors College · Elon College · Five Towns College · LIU Post · McGill University · N.Y. Institute of Technology · St. John's University · SUNY Buffalo University · SUNY Maritime · SUNY Potsdam · SUNY Stony Brook · Suffolk County Community College · The Boston Conservatory · and 5 more below
Is my kid's college on this list?
The school down the road: Smithtown High School East
| College | Ward Melville Senior High School | Smithtown High School East |
|---|---|---|
| Boston College | ✓ named | — |
| Boston University | ✓ named | ✓ named |
| Brown University | ✓ named | — |
| Carnegie Mellon University | ✓ named | — |
| Columbia University | ✓ named | — |
| Cornell University | ✓ named | ✓ named |
| Emory University | ✓ named | ✓ named |
| Georgetown University | ✓ named | — |
| Georgia Institute of Technology | ✓ named | ✓ named |
| Harvard University | ✓ named | ✓ named |
| Johns Hopkins University | ✓ named | ✓ named |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | ✓ named | ✓ named |
Both schools print names, not counts, so this shows which selective colleges each list names.
All 188 colleges, as the document prints them
and 158 more
These graduates were admitted to the colleges above.
Check your kid's odds at these colleges →We'll load 10 from the list above — add your name, email and your child's numbers and we'll see where your child lands at each.
Independently verified As published by Ward Melville Senior High School — Ward Melville High School School Profile 2026-2027 ↗. Found at: Page 4 of 4, 'CLASS OF 2026 COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES' / 'CLASS OF 2026 - COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES (188)', subtitled 'Complete list of colleges and universities to which m.
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How Ward Melville Senior High School compares for families
Stronger-than-average college-prep profile.
- ▸ StatewideAP rigor at the 70th percentile nationally with 25 AP courses.
- ▸ LocallyNY sits right at the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math — local school quality will set your kid apart.
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: CENTEREACH HIGH SCHOOL, NEWFIELD HIGH SCHOOL, SMITHTOWN HIGH SCHOOL EAST and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
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Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.
Academic rigor
AP + advanced-course offerings
Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth
70th percentile nationally
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).
SAT / ACT participation
CRDC federal data · 2020-21Top 3.5% by test-taker volume
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.
Teacher workforce · federal CRDC
Teacher experience & reliability
Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.
Federal Title I context
Lower-need school
Not Title I eligible (FRPL < 25%)
<25% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Well below the Title I threshold; expect a higher-income student body on average.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.
Your state's public flagship
Stony Brook University
The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $18,784/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.
Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.
Pay for college in New York
New York's public scholarships
New York's Excelsior Scholarship makes SUNY and CUNY tuition-free for middle-income families — there's no GPA or test gate, but you commit to staying in New York after you graduate.
Tuition-free SUNY/CUNY for NY families under $125k AGI — no GPA or test gate, but you must stay on track and live in New York after graduating. (Stay on-track (30 credits/yr); live & work in NY afterward for the years you received it.)
Official program details ↗Eligibility rules change yearly — confirm with the official program before relying on it. Amounts are recent published figures; awards cover tuition/fees, not housing or books unless noted. Verified 2026-10-21.
Graduation, Diploma & Readiness
NY status: Good StandingDo students graduate, with how strong a diploma — and how ready?
New York reports not just whether students graduate but which diploma they earn and how college/career/civic ready they are. A Regents diploma with Advanced Designation is the state's most rigorous — it takes extra Regents exams in math, science, and often a world language.
What's a Regents diploma with Advanced Designation? →
Every NY public-school graduate earns a diploma by passing Regents exams (a score of 65+). A standard Regents diploma takes the core set. The Advanced Designation adds more — typically Algebra II and Geometry, an additional science, and a world-language Regents (or an approved alternative). It's the strongest signal of college-prep rigor New York publishes for a graduating class.
What are "readiness" and "NY status"? →
College/Career/Civic Ready is the share of students who reached at least New York's readiness bar — e.g., an advanced diploma, a qualifying exam or college credit, a career/technical credential, military readiness, or civic-readiness measures. NY also rolls this into a weighted CCCR Index (0–200) and a 1–4 performance level. NY status is the state's ESSA accountability designation: most schools are in good standing (managed locally), while a minority are state-identified for Comprehensive or Targeted support.
Source: New York State Education Department, High School Graduation Rate Database + School Report Card (CCCR readiness, ESSA accountability status), 2024-25, All Students, Class of 2025 (4-year cohort). Diploma shares are of the graduating cohort. NYSED masks small-group results for privacy.
Regents Exam Results
How students score on New York's Regents exams.
Regents exams are New York's statewide end-of-course tests — the state's core academic benchmark, and a requirement for graduation. Below: the share of students scoring 65 or above on each, the score that earns diploma credit (and New York's "proficient" / Level 3+ benchmark).
What does "scored 65+" mean on the Regents? →
New York scores each Regents exam on five performance levels. A score of 65 or above earns credit toward a diploma — and under New York's current framework that's Level 3 or above, the state's "proficient" benchmark (the number shown above). Exams are taken when a student finishes the course, so results reflect that subject's instruction, not a single grade.
Source: New York State Education Department, School Report Card — Annual Regents Examinations, 2024-25, All Students. NYSED masks small-group results for privacy and shows only exams with reported results.
Chronic absenteeism
Why this matters to enrollment: A low chronic-absence rate is the cleanest school-level signal of strong family connection, classroom culture, and student engagement — all upstream drivers of enrollment stability.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2021 total enrollment.
Counselor capacity
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.
Enrollment trend & projection
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
If the recent trend holds…
At its recent rate of -1.7%/year, projecting from 2024's 1,442 students:
≈ 116 fewer students by 2029 — a real revenue/relevance risk worth getting ahead of.
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
Revenue at risk
At $38,890 per student in district revenue, the 116 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $4,511,240/year in funding at risk.
District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.
Most similar nearby high schools
The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CENTEREACH HIGH SCHOOL CENTEREACH |
Public | 2.9 | 1,409 | -5.2% |
| NEWFIELD HIGH SCHOOL SELDEN |
Public | 3.1 | 1,553 | +3.5% |
| SMITHTOWN HIGH SCHOOL EAST SAINT JAMES |
Public | 5.7 | 1,403 | -7.6% |
| COMSEWOGUE HIGH SCHOOL PORT JEFFERSON STA |
Public | 2.1 | 1,147 | +3.2% |
| SACHEM HIGH SCHOOL NORTH LAKE RONKONKOMA |
Public | 5.5 | 1,971 | -1.1% |
| SACHEM HIGH SCHOOL EAST FARMINGVILLE |
Public | 6.0 | 1,971 | -5.2% |
| CONNETQUOT HIGH SCHOOL BOHEMIA |
Public | 9.8 | 1,751 | +1.3% |
| BELLPORT SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL BROOKHAVEN |
Public | 12.6 | 1,314 | -4.7% |
At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantWard Melville Senior High School is a public high school in East Setauket, NY, enrolling 1,442 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.
Enrollment is up 1% from 2021 to 2024.
It offers 25 AP courses, a course-rigor profile stronger than 70% of U.S. high schools, and has a dual-enrollment program (federal Civil Rights Data Collection).
700 students took the SAT or ACT in the most recent federal count, a participation level above 96% of U.S. high schools.
Its federal four-year graduation rate was about 97% in the latest EDFacts release.
New York reports a four-year graduation rate of 98%, with 73% of the cohort earning a Regents diploma with advanced designation.
It has about 144 students per school counselor.
2% of its students were chronically absent in 2020.
Ward Melville Senior High School publishes a college acceptances list for the CLASS OF 2026: 188 colleges. Source: Ward Melville High School School Profile 2026-2027.
Sources: National Center for Education Statistics (enrollment), the federal Civil Rights Data Collection and EDFacts, state education agencies where named, and the school's own published documents where named.
Questions families ask
Where do Ward Melville Senior High School graduates go to college? Ward Melville Senior High School publishes a college acceptances list for the CLASS OF 2026: 188 colleges. Source: Ward Melville High School School Profile 2026-2027.
How many AP courses does Ward Melville Senior High School offer? Ward Melville Senior High School offers 25 AP courses, a course-rigor profile stronger than 70% of U.S. high schools, and has a dual-enrollment program (federal Civil Rights Data Collection).
What is Ward Melville Senior High School's graduation rate? Ward Melville Senior High School's federal four-year graduation rate was about 97% in the latest EDFacts release.
How many students attend Ward Melville Senior High School? Ward Melville Senior High School is a public high school in East Setauket, NY, enrolling 1,442 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.
Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com). These figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.
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