The New School

The New School, a tax-exempt private university based in New York, operates as a prime recipient of federal grants across research, arts, education, and mental health domains, with 87% of its 130 recent federal awards held as prime grants rather than sub-awards. The institution does not hold federal contracts; its federal footprint is entirely grant-funded and concentrates on research and educational programming delivered by the university's schools and centers.

The National Science Foundation dominates The New School's customer base, accounting for 39 awards, followed by the National Endowment for the Arts (20 awards), the Department of Defense National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (13 awards), the National Endowment for the Humanities (9 awards), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (7 awards). These five agencies represent 68% of all recent awards. The combined dollars obligated across all 130 federal awards total $98.6 million, reflecting the scale and breadth of the institution's federal grant engagement across 28 distinct agencies.

The New School's grant portfolio spans several capability and mission areas. The Tishman Environment and Design Center received a 2024 EPA Region 2 project grant for developing an energy transition educational series and equitable energy governance consultation process across the Midwest and Northeast under the Inflation Reduction Act. The National Endowment for the Arts has funded multiple awards supporting the New York String Orchestra Seminar, a pre-professional training program, with recurring annual grants in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2026. The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded a 2024 project grant for "Psychedelic Humanities: Bridging the Two Cultures," a two-year initiative culminating in an edited volume. The National Institute on Drug Abuse funded a 2024 project grant exploring historical trauma, racial discrimination, PTSD, and substance use among Black young adults. The university's Department of Psychology received a September 2022 SAMHSA Center for Mental Health Services grant for a campus suicide prevention project targeting The New School's 10,247-student body, with focus on LGBTQIA+, international, and food/housing-insecure populations. The NSF Division of Graduate Education awarded a 2023 Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) grant extending through 2028 to support graduate fellows pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees in STEM and STEM education.

The New School also participates as a sub-recipient on federally-funded research projects led by other institutions. George Washington University has issued multiple sub-awards (October 2025, September 2025, January 2025, March 2024) for the RECOUP-NY project on community-based psychological services in New York City. Johns Hopkins University issued a January 2025 sub-award for artistic leadership and research support on an unspecified research project. The Research Foundation of the City University of New York named The New School as a member institution of the New York Social Security Research Center (SSRC) in January and March 2025 sub-awards supporting dissemination and research activities. The University of Michigan issued April 2024 and September 2024 sub-awards for social media data analysis research contributing to Census Bureau statistical methods. New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services issued multiple sub-awards (through 2024) for COVID-19 related school expenses incurred 2020–2022.

Activity has accelerated in recent years, with two awards in 2022, three in 2023, and fifteen in 2024, before dropping to five in 2025. Only one award carries an ultimate completion date within the next twenty-four months, indicating minimal recompete pressure in the immediate pipeline. The New School holds one named parent vehicle, Indefinite Delivery Contract NMA50103D0001, under which it has placed thirteen task orders. The top NAICS category in recent grants is Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences, with fourteen awards coded to PSC R&D–Defense Other (Basic Research), reflecting the institution's role as a research and educational grantee rather than a federal contractor in the commercial or defense services space.