The New School

Private · Moderately Selective · NY

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationNY · Northeast

SettingUrban

Undergrads6,563

Student:faculty9:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate46.8%

6-yr grad rate69.4%

Drop-out rate15.2%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$59k

Out-of-state tuition$59k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity70%

Gender diversity76.8%

International34.3%

Identity—

Overview

The New School is a university in Greenwich Village built around design, liberal arts, and the performing arts, founded by progressive scholars and still carrying an experimental, politically engaged character distinct from more conventional universities.

Academics

Parsons School of Design, one of the most influential design schools anywhere, is the institution's signature program, drawing students in fashion, graphic design, and related fields from around the world. The broader university also offers strong liberal arts, jazz, and drama programs, often with cross-disciplinary study encouraged between them.

Campus & student life

There is no enclosed campus in the traditional sense — the university occupies buildings across several downtown Manhattan blocks, and student life is inseparable from the city itself, with fashion, drama, and jazz students sharing classrooms, studios, and informal collaborations.

Getting in

Portfolio and audition requirements are central for Parsons and performing-arts applicants, while the broader university evaluates more holistically, with the institution's progressive, socially engaged identity often shaping who chooses to apply.

After graduation

Parsons graduates move into fashion houses, design studios, and creative agencies at a level few design schools can match, and jazz and drama alumni build careers throughout New York's performing arts and entertainment industries, aided by the city location itself.

Worth knowing

A student should understand that campus here means Manhattan blocks, not a quad — this is a fully urban, integrated-into-the-city experience, central to the identity rather than incidental to it.

newschool.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate63.5%

Enrolled mid-50%—

Test policynot used

Rec letters2

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Early actionNov 1

Regular decisionJan 15

Applying