The New School for Social Research was founded in 1919 with the primary mission of providing adult education. In 1943, NSSR was divided into two schools, the School of Politics, and the School of Liberal Arts and Philosophy. At this time, in response to the needs of returning veterans wishing to take advantage of the GI Bill, the school began a program called Senior Year at the New School. Geared toward adults who had previously completed some cousework, the program offered undergraduate credits for some courses and awarded bachelors degrees. However, the majority of students continued to take non-credit courses.

In 1997, the New School for Social Research was officially renamed New School University. The founding division, still devoted to adult education, was given the general name The New School, now comprising one of seven divisions of New School University. In 2005, the school underwent another series of name changes, which led to the overarching organization being called The New School, while the adult education program was named The New School for General Studies. This name was changed in 2011, when the adult education program was called The New School for Public Engagement and combined with the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy, which until that time had been a separate division.

In 1933, the New School for Social Research established the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science. Also known as the "University in Exile," the division was founded in order to host German and other European scholars who left their countries to escape political and racial persecution. The Board of Regents of the State of New York granted a provisional charter in 1934, allowing the Graduate Faculty to confer Master of Social Science and Doctor of Social Science degrees. This was the first time the New School for Social Research offered credit to students in any of its programs. The New School was fully accredited as a university. In 2005, the Graduate Faculty changed its name to The New School for Social Research, reclaiming the founding name of the entire institution which had been dropped eight years before.

The Dramatic Workshop of the New School for Social Research was established in 1940 and continued to offer classes at The New School until 1948 when the partnership ended. In 1994 The New School for Drama was founded, aligning itself with the tradition of the original Dramatic Workshop.

The New School Senior College was established in 1944 as an evening college for adults. Administrators were discussing the desirability of opening a day college for fulltime students from at least the late 1950s. The first fulltime day school was New School College, which operated from around 1966 through 1970 as a two-year college for students who had completed two years of college coursework at other institutions. The college awarded a BA in Humanities or Social Sciences. The Seminar College was established in 1975 or 1976, at first as an expanded program within the Senior College, offering a path for college-age students to earn a BA degree in a fulltime day program. The Seminar College ran until 1985, when it was renamed Eugene Lang College. The Freshman Year Program, which opened in 1972, provided intensive university-level courses to students entering their final year of high school (or recent high school graduates) who would then matriculate elsewhere at the sophomore level. According to New School course catalogs the Freshman Year Program ran until at least 1980.

From 1919 to 1931 course information was announced at least once a year with occasional Spring and Summer semester supplements in a document called the The New School for Social Research Announcement. Beginning in 1931 adult education courses were announced at least twice a year, in the Fall and Spring, in a publication titled The New School for Social Research Inc. from 1931 to 1934, simply The New School for Social Research from 1934 to 1937 and The New School for Social Research Curriculum from 1937 to 1943. In 1944 a weekly bulletin was established to communicate news about the school, including announcements about courses and events; the bulletin was published on a semi-monthly basis starting in 1961, monthly from 1966 to 1997, 8 times a year from 1998 to 2000, 7 times a year from 2001 to 2002, and 4 times a year from 2002 to the present. Each semester (Fall, Spring and Summer), an issue of the bulletin was dedicated to describing the full catalog of adult courses. Only those bulletins dedicated specifically and comprehensively to course information are included in this collection.

Beginning in 2005 when The New School was restructured, information about adult education courses was published in The New School for General Studies Course Catalog. In 2010, the school was restructured once again and adult education became part of the newly formed New School for Public Engagement, with course information published in separate catalogs for continuing education and degree programs.

1919

New School for Social Research founded as an institution of higher education for adults, offering non-credit courses only.

1933

New School for Social research establishes the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science. Also known as the "University in Exile," it hosts scholars who have been forced to leave Germany and other parts of Europe.

1934

The Board of Regents of the State of New York grants the New School for Social Research a provisional charter to offer Master of Social Science and Doctor of Social Science degrees to students of the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science.

1940

The Dramatic Workshop of the New School is established.

1942

École Libre des Hautes Études is established for French scholars in New York.

1943

The New School for Social Research is divided into two schools: the School of Politics and School of Liberal Arts and Philosophy.

1944

Senior Year at the New School, also called the Senior College, begins to offer "adult centered" undergraduate courses for students with some previous college credits, developed to fit the needs of returning soldiers taking advange of the GI Bill.

1948

The Dramatic Workshop ends partnership with the New School and begins operating independently.

1959

The New School is fully accredited as a university by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.

1961

Last reference to the School of Politics and Social Studies and School of Philosophy and Liberal Arts in a catalog.

1962

The catalog of the New School for Social Research lists two main divisions: The Graduate Faculty and The New School.

1965

The Center for New York City Affairs is established. It offers credit and non-credit courses "designed to meet the needs of both professionals and laymen for a comprehensive program which focuses on the character, history, needs and problems of our many-faceted metropolis."

1969

First reference to an "Adult Division" in a catalog, although it is not yet listed as an official division.

1970

Parsons School of Design joins the New School for Social Research as an affiliate institution.

1972

Freshman Year Program is established to offer college-level courses to students who have completed at least the junior year of high school, with the assumption they will finish their bachelors degrees elsewhere. It is the first full time day program devoted exclusively to undergraduate at the New School for Social Research.Adult Division is listed as an official division in course catalogs.

1972

Adult Division is listed as an official division in course catalogs.

1972

The Center for New York City Affairs begins to offer MA degrees in Urban Affairs and Manpower Development, in addition to continuing education.

1978

Seminar College is established as a full-time, degree-granting undergraduate program.

1978

Graduate School of Management and Urban Studies offering MA and MPS degrees separates from Center for New York City Affairs, which continues to offer non-credit continuing education courses.

1980

The Seminar College and Senior College are joined to form the Undergraduate Division, which also includes the Freshman Year Program beginning in 1981.

1984

The Senior College returns to the Adult Division, while the Seminar College and Freshamn Year Program remain the Undergraduate Division.

1985

Otis Art Institute is listed as a division of the New School for Social Research.

1985

The Seminar College is expanded and renamed Eugene Lang College, now its own division. The Freshman Year Program is no longer specifically referenced.

1986

Program in Jazz begins at the New School for Social Research, although it is not yet listed as a division.

1989

Graduate School of Management and Urban Professions is renamed Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy.

1989

Mannes College of Music, founded in 1916, joins the New School for Social Research as a division.

1991

Otis School of Design returns to being independent of the New School for Social Research.

1995

The Actors Studio begins a partnership with the New School for Social Research, offering a 3 year MFA.

1996

Actors Studio at the New School becomes School of Dramatic Arts.

1998

School of Dramatic Arts becomes Actors Studio School of Dramatic Arts.

1998

New School for Social Research is renamed New School University, now comprising seven divisions.

2004

Actors Studio School of Dramatic Arts becomes Actors Studio Drama School.

2005

New School University is renamed The New School. It now consists of eight divisions: The New School for General Studes (formerly The New School); The New School for Social Research (formerly the Graduate Faculty); Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy; Parsons The New School for Design; Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts; Mannes College The New School for Music; The New School for Drama (formerly the Actors Studio Drama School); The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.

2011

The New School for General Studies is combined with Milano the New School for Management and Urban Policy to form The New School for Public Engagement.