The New School

The New School is a private university in New York City, founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research by scholars seeking adult education and a center for progressive social science. It later added undergraduate colleges and in 1970 incorporated Parsons School of Design, founded in 1896. It remains a cluster of specialist schools in Greenwich Village and Union Square rather than a single residential campus.

Units include Parsons School of Design, the New School for Social Research, Eugene Lang College, the College of Performing Arts (Mannes, Drama, and Jazz), and the Schools of Public Engagement. Graduate work uses design studios, social-science seminars, and conservatory training. The Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility is one research home for graduate students.

About 10,000 students enroll, with a high graduate share at Parsons and the New School for Social Research and a large international cohort from many countries. Faculty combine academic scholars with practicing designers and musicians. Alumni include fashion designers Marc Jacobs and Donna Karan and playwright Tennessee Williams.

Degrees include MA and PhD study at the New School for Social Research, MFA and professional master's at Parsons and the performing-arts schools, and public-engagement master's. Teaching is seminar- and studio-based. The calendar is a US semester system; aid includes scholarships and assistantships. Students live in downtown Manhattan and use the city's firms, museums, and theaters as part of their training.

In the Grad School Navigator directory, The New School lists 6 graduate programs across 5 subjects: 5 master's programs and 1 doctoral program, with the widest choice in social work & sociology, communication, media & journalism and environmental design.