MAST @ FIU ranked No. 31 among the nation's best public high schools in U.S. News & World Report's latest list. The ranking makes the Marine Academy of Science and Technology at Florida International University's Biscayne Bay Campus the top school in Miami-Dade County and No. 2 in Florida.

The magnet school, based in North Miami, draws students countywide through the district's competitive application process. Only Pine View School in Osprey, in Sarasota County, ranked higher statewide at No. 13 nationally.

Six Miami-Dade schools made the national top 100, reporter Austin Horn wrote for the Miami Herald on Monday, Aug. 31. That total placed the county second in the country, behind only Maricopa County, Arizona, which had eight.

The five district-run Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) on the list were MAST @ FIU at No. 31, José Martí MAST 6-12 at No. 55, iPreparatory Academy at No. 86, TERRA Environmental Research Institute at No. 87, and Design and Architecture Senior High at No. 96. Archimedean Upper Conservatory, a charter school, came in at No. 39.

MAST Academy, the separate magnet school on Virginia Key that many Key Biscayne students attend, ranked No. 111 nationally and No. 14 in Florida. It is a different school from MAST @ FIU.

M-DCPS said in an Aug. 21 press release that five of its schools appeared in the national top 100 and that 15 district high schools ranked in Florida's top 50. Charter schools made up more than half of Miami-Dade's presence in the state rankings, accounting for 17 of the county's 32 schools in Florida's top 100.

The U.S. News methodology weighs college readiness, measured by Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) participation and outcomes, at 30%. State assessment scores and performance compared to demographically similar schools each count for 20%. Graduation rates, college curriculum breadth and underserved student performance each account for 10%.

The Herald noted the rankings "are imprecise, and don't take into account everything that students and parents prioritize when choosing where to go to school" and that some metrics rely on data that is a few years old.

MAST @ FIU's campus is also expanding. The school board approved a $20.6 million contract in February for a new three-story, 35,000-square-foot building featuring 20 classrooms, roughly 500 student stations, a dining room, a warming kitchen and an outdoor dining area, according to district records. A groundbreaking ceremony took place March 11, and construction is expected to finish by November 2027.