TJ High School Admits 550 Students Under New Admissions Policy

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, a governor's school and one of the nation's top high schools, announced the incoming freshman class chosen with the new admissions policy.

TJ admitted 550 students for the class of 2025. The Fairfax County School Board has voted to change the admissions policy, eliminating the standardized admissions test, eliminating the $100 application fee, raising the minimum grade point average, and increased the freshman class size from 480 to 550.

Spots in the class of 2025 were determined by the top 1.5 percent of applicants from every middle school. For the first time in at least a decade, every Fairfax County Public Schools middle school has students who were accepted to TJ.

The school saw an increase in applications this year — 3,034 compared to 2,539 in the last school year. The 3.9074 average GPA of applicants was higher than recent years, while the 3.9539 average GPA of accepted students was similar to past years.

As the admissions policy changes aimed to increase access to underrepresented student groups, there were some increases in several demographic groups. Black students made up 7.09 percent of accepted students, while last year's admission was "too small for reporting," meaning 10 or less. Hispanic students made up 11.27 percent of accepted students, compared to 3.3 percent last year.

The percentage of white students admitted also increased from 17.7 percent to 22.36 percent. Asian students still represent the majority of admitted students, although the percentage fell from 73 percent to 54.36 percent.

The percentage of economically disadvantaged students admitted also had a significant increase from 0.62 percent to 25.09 percent. Special education students represent 2.36 percent of accepted students, and English Language Learners represented 7.09 percent.

The Coalition for TJ, a group of parents, students, alumni, staff, and community members opposed to the admissions changes, responded to the admissions announcement in a statement. The coalition believes the changes discriminated against Asian students and has an active federal lawsuit.

"We love Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, and we congratulate every student accepted for admission into the TJ Class of 2025," the coalition stated. "Fairfax County Public Schools has also broken the hearts of many deserving students by waging a crusade against Asian students at the school, first by proposing a random lottery and later by implementing the current race-balanced 'holistic' admissions system that amounts to social engineering."

The coalition also denounced critical race theory, an academic concept studying how racism can be found in various public policies. Opponents see it as a wedge that pits people of color against white people, according to Education Week.

"We seek fairness for all families and students, and we reject the racism of the ideology of 'critical race theory' that promotes admissions lotteries and race quotas while killing merit," The Coalition for TJ stated. "We will continue to fight for an American Dream in which all people have equal protection under the law."

Thomas Jefferson High School is an admissions-based governor’s school open to students in Fairfax County as well as Arlington, Loudoun, and Prince William counties, and cities of Fairfax and Falls Church. The school was recently ranked the top high school in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.