New York City officials opened the doors of a unique school on Thursday: the first high school and university’s university and university (HBCU) in an important city in the United States.
“There is simply not enough HBCU exposure throughout the country,” Johnson said during an interview with ABC News before the opening of the school. “We talk about access to university and university, but we don’t spend enough time celebrating history and data on it.”
The HBCU register almost 10% of all the US university students in the US and promote the majority of doctors, lawyers and black judges, according to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
On this video screen, Dr. Asya Johnson, director of HBCU College Prep High School, speaks the first day of school, on September 4, 2025, in Jamaica, Queens, New York.
New York/YouTube mayor office
However, there is no HBCU north of Pennsylvania on the east coast, even in New York.
Graduate from the State University of Delaware, a historically black land research university, Johnson said he wants to expose his students to his roots.
“It is important because it does not exist,” Johnson told ABC News about the need for a HBCU-centered preparation school, and adds that “we often do not explain to the students what exists beyond our state or our local tri-state area. Why not expose students to that?”
Johnson appeared with the mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, and other city policy formulators in the opening of the school on Thursday.
“We want them to know that from the moment they enter the doors, how much we love and take care of,” Johnson said about the first class of students to attend the new school.
The new school, located in the neighborhood of Queens de Jamaica, has only 100 seats, and there were more than 1,000 applicants competing for a place for its first year, according to Johnson. Future students had to complete an essay to solve a technology or a problem of medical care in their community and record a two -minute video that would discuss how they would use their title to give back their community.
The school mission is to cultivate a “community of students dedicated to academic excellence, diversity, social contributions and social justice,” according to their website.
As of the 11th grade, HBCU students Early College Prep will take university courses online taught by DSU professors, according to the school website.
The president of DSU, Tony Allen, speaking at the press conference at the opening of the school, said HBCUS has played a key role in the construction of the black middle class during the last century and a half.
“To be clear, the greatest indicator for a minor resources from a community little served to enter the middle class and change the economic trajectory for themselves, their families and their communities is their assistance to an HBCU,” he said.
Students attending school will obtain up to 64 university credits for an associate title in DSU liberal arts and guarantee the admission there, According to the New York Mayor’s office.
“We are simply not trying to give children a title of diplomas and secondary school associates, but we want to prepare them for the real world to ensure that they can be active citizens in this society,” said Johnson.
This Google Maps View screen screen shows the building where HBCU College Prep High School is located in Jamaica, Queens, New York.
Google Maps Street View
Focusquest, a company that helps HBCU with recruitment, has been touched as one of the official school partners. CEO Sean-Reed McGee called for fusion as a “change of play.”
As some institutions resort to initiatives for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), Johnson emphasized that they are welcome in these institutions.
“HBCUS and our school, in particular, are not just for black students,” Johnson told ABC News. “Anyone can attend an HBCU, like anyone can attend and request the preparation of HBCU Early College here in New York City.”
