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Also known as NYU Steinhardt
The New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development is the school of education at New York University. The school was founded as the School of Pedagogy in 1890.
The New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development (branded as NYU Steinhardt) is the school of education at New York University. The school was founded as the School of Pedagogy in 1890.
Located on NYU's founding campus in Greenwich Village, the Steinhardt School offers bachelor's, master's, advanced certificate, and doctoral programs in the fields of applied psychology, art, education, health, media, and music.
Contents
History
Founded in 1890 as the School of Pedagogy, it was the first of its kind in the United States. The School in its inception had four departments: Institutes of Education, History of Education and Ethics, Experimental and Physiological Psychology, and Descriptive Psychology.
The School of Pedagogy was one of very few graduate schools in the United States to accept women as students and grant them degrees; by 1900, the NYU School of Pedagogy had granted doctorates to 18 women, while only 3 other doctorates in education had been conferred to US women to that point. This put the School of Pedagogy in an important position as it was "almost the only [institution] to give women a doctorate in the highly feminized field of education." As an article in the History of Education Quarterly put it,Women schoolteachers flocked to New York University's School of Pedagogy, because, as graduates of normal colleges, they were prohibited from entering its Graduate School. Because the School of Pedagogy was so feminized, its administration organized a Woman's Advisory Council of wealthy New Yorkers who covered the School's annual deficits for many years.In 1921, a newly appointed dean—John W. Withers—proposed the school adopt a new name, the School of Education; Withers also oversaw the school's purchase of land on and movement to Washington Square. The Education Building on Washington Square opened in 1930 and still serves as the School's home today. Enrollment increased significantly, from 141 students in 1920 to 7,493 students in 1930 (of these, 5,449 were undergraduates and 1,544 were graduate students).
The School added areas of study related to education (music education, art education, physical education, etc.), which then expanded to broader fields. (The 1942 Education Violet yearbook lists graduates from departments including business education, industrial art, and nursing education, among many others; and a list of doctoral dissertations from 1890 to 1970 catalogues student writing on subjects ranging from safety education and accident prevention, to vocational rehabilitation, to communications.) By the 1970s, the School housed a range of academic fields beyond education, and as Dean Daniel E. Griffiths introduced 39 new programs to the school, he also oversaw its 1974 renaming to the School of Education, Health, Nursing, and Arts Professions (SEHNAP).
After reverting to the prior School of Education name in 1994, the School received a US$10 million donation from Michael and Judy Steinhardt in 2001 and added the family's name to become the Steinhardt School of Education; the Steinhardts gave another $10 million gift in 2006. In 2007, the school was renamed the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development to reflect the diversity of its academic programs.
Academics
As of the Spring 2026 semester, NYU Steinhardt enrolls roughly 6,321 students from about 85 countries, consisting of approximately 3,024 undergraduates, 2,820 master's and advanced certificate students, 271 PhD students, and 390 professional doctorate (EdD, OTD, DMA, DPT) students. Nearly two-thirds are people of color and 27% are international students.
Steinhardt has been ranked among the top 10 of the US News & World Report Best Graduate Schools of Education every year since 2019, reaching its highest ranking at #6 in 2026.
Academic departments
The school employs 284 full-time faculty in 11 academic departments, offering more than 195 programs and degrees.
Programs in Educational Leadership, Educational Communication and Technology, and Higher and Postsecondary Education offer master's and doctoral degrees.
Offerings include bachelor's degrees in Applied Psychology and Global Public Health / Applied Psychology; master's degrees in Counseling for Mental Health and Wellness (on-campus and online); and doctoral degrees in Clinical/Counseling Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and Psychology and Social Intervention. The department was founded in 1989 and now includes research labs studying trauma, suicide prevention, infant neurodevelopment, self-regulation, and more.
The department offers graduate and undergraduate degrees in Applied Statistics and Computational Social Science, Education and Social Policy, Education Studies, International Education, and Sociology of Education, and minors in Peace and Conflict Studies as well as Global and Urban Education Studies.
The Art and Art Professions department has BFAs and MFAs in studio art, as well as master's degrees in Art Education, Art Therapy, Costume Studies, and Visual Arts Administration. The School of Pedagogy offered a course in the Teaching of Art as early as 1911. Facilities include studio space for painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, mixed media, and digital art.
Programs include undergraduate bachelor's degrees and a minor; online and on campus master's degrees; and a PhD. The department provides graduate training and clinical services at the NYU Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic.
The Department of Media, Culture, and Communication offers undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs, including a minor in Disability Studies and a dual degree (MA/MSc) with the London School of Economics established in 2025. Established by Neil Postman in 1971 as the NYU graduate program in Media Ecology, it was an outgrowth of the School of Education's Department of Communications in Education.
Online and hybrid degrees
Online and hybrid degrees include:
Doctor of Occupational Therapy for Practicing Therapists
EdD in Leadership and Innovation
MA in Counseling for Mental Health and Wellness: accredited through the Masters in Psychology and Counseling Accreditation Council (MPCAC)
MAT in Inclusive Childhood Education
MAT in Secondary Education
MS in Communicative Sciences and Disorders: accredited by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's (ASHA) Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA)
Former fields of study
Global Public Health: The School of Pedagogy added a course on school hygiene in 1912. The School of Education added classes in hygiene and teaching health in 1931, with courses in the Department of Physical Education and Health including public health nursing by 1940. SEHNAP's Department of Health Studies included public health, disability studies, and human sexuality and offered courses on community health problems, environmental health, and world health crises. By 2012, Steinhardt had a bachelor's, master's, and PhD in public health available, which migrated to NYU's School of Global Public Health by 2016.
Nursing: Early courses in 1923 ranged from Education in Health and Education in Accident Prevention to courses in the Physical Education Department. In September 2005, NYU's Division of Nursing moved from the Steinhardt School to form the College of Nursing (now New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing) within the College of Dentistry.
Research centers and institutes
Current centers and institutes
Steinhardt research centers and other initiatives involve internal and external scholars, practitioners, researchers, and students.
The Center of Health and Rehabilitation Research brings together scholars at Steinhardt who investigate health in all aspects: mental, physical, cognitive, communicative, nutritive, and more. CoHRR collaborates with researchers from other Steinhardt centers, NYU Langone Health, Tandon School, Courant Institute, and the NYU Center for Neural Science.
The Center for Practice and Research at the Intersection of Information, Society, and Methodology supports researchers in collecting data, building inferential models and predictive algorithms, and communicating findings in impactful and socially responsible ways. Initiatives include the PRIISM Seminar Series and research fellowships. PRIISM is affiliated with Steinhardt's Department of Applied Statistics, Social Science, and Humanities.
The Child and Family Policy Center works to bring field knowledge about how to promote children's healthy development and school success to the forefront of policymaking, program design, and practice.
The Consortium for Research and Evaluation of Advanced Technologies in Education includes researchers who support and explore the design and evaluation of advanced digital technologies for learning. Affiliated researchers' projects, for example, have utilized virtual reality for learning and examined how Shakespeare can help with veteran's PTSD.
The Institute of Human Development and Social Change is an intellectual community focused on issues related to poverty and inequality, education and child development, health and wellbeing, and social policy in local, national, and global contexts. A joint initiative of Steinhardt, Wagner School of Public Service, College of Arts and Science, School of Professional Studies, and the NYU Office of the Provost, IHDSC comprises over 100 faculty and hundreds of students and staff.
Multiple other projects are housed within or partnered with IHDSC, including:
Former centers and institutes
Center for Health, Identity, Behavior, and Prevention Studies (CHIBPS), founded by Perry N. Halkitis and now housed at Rutgers University
Center for Research on Culture, Development, and Education (CHREO)
Institute for Education and Social Policy (IESP)
The Reading Recovery Program Northeast Regional Site
Deans
Jerome Allen (1890–1894)
Edward R. Shaw (1890–1901)
Thomas M. Balliet (1904–1919)
Marshall S. Brown (1919–1921), acting dean
John W. Withers (1921–1939)
Enoch George Payne (1939–1945)
Ernest O. Melby (1945–1956)
George D. Stoddard (1956–1960)
Walter A. Anderson (1960–1964)
Daniel E. Griffiths (1965–1983)
Robert A. Burnham (1983–1989)
Ann Marcus (1989–2003)
Mary Brabeck (2003–2014)
Dominic Brewer (2014–2019)
Jack H. Knott (2020–2026)
Kristie Patten (2026–present)
Notable alumni
A Great Big World, singer-songwriter duo consisting of members Ian Axel and Chad King
Rachel Griffin Accurso, YouTuber and educator known online as Ms. Rachel
Sal Albanese, politician
Marv Albert, sportscaster
Blake Allen, composer and musician
Gloria Allred, civil rights lawyer
Wilfred Conwell Bain, music educator and administrator
Joy Bauer, nutritionist
Romare Bearden, artist
Ib Benoh, artist
Rose Levy Beranbaum, baker, cookbook author, and blogger
Elmer Bernstein, conductor and film score composer
Alessandra Biaggi, politician and New York State Senator
Ross Bleckner, artist
Judy Blume, author
Carol Bove, artist
Rustica Carpio, actress, writer, and scholar
Herbert Chilstrom, religious leader and first Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Cy Coleman, composer (as New York College of Music)
Notable faculty
Steinhardt's notable faculty include and have included:
Mark Adamo, composer and librettist known for his opera Little Women
Arjun Appadurai, anthropologist, globalization theorist, media scholar, and Professor Emeritus of Media, Culture, and Communication
Richard Arum, sociologist of education
Rodney Benson, scholar of comparative news media systems
Amy Bentley, food studies professor and researcher
Harolyn Blackwell, operatic soprano
Roscoe Brown, education professor and one of the Tuskegee Airmen
Dana Burde, political scientist and director of International Education
Meg Bussert, actress, singer, and musical theatre professor
Nicole Fleetwood, art curator, author, and Paulette Goddard Professor in Media, Culture, and Communication
James W. Fraser, educationalist, pastor, and academic administrator
Alexander Gemignani, Broadway actor, tenor, musician, and conductor
Carol Gilligan, feminist, ethicist, and psychologist
RoseLee Goldberg, art historian, author, critic, and curator of performance art
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Undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees are available within a variety of programs:
Performance: Brass Studies, Jazz Studies, Percussion Studies, Piano Studies, String Studies, Vocal Performance, Woodwind Studies
Business and Administration: Music Business, Performing Arts Administration
Performing Arts Education and Therapy: Dance Education, Drama Therapy, Educational Theatre, Music Education, Music Therapy
Composition and Technology: Concert Composition, Music Technology, Screen Scoring, Songwriting
In 1908, the School of Pedagogy added a single Teaching Music course, with a nine-course Department of Music Teaching established in 1913. Though these courses and departments were dissolved as attendance waned during the First World War, 1925 saw the reestablishment of a music department within the School of Education.
In 1968, the New York College of Music, which was an American conservatory of music originally founded in 1878 and located in Manhattan, closed and merged with NYU, leading to the music department of the School of Education to serve both in its original capacity and as the spiritual continuation of the New York College of Music.
The department offers undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degree programs in Nutrition and Dietetics and Food Studies, as well as minors in both, alongside a teaching kitchen (the NYU Food Lab) and a teaching farm (the NYU Urban Farm Lab).
Graduate programs in occupational therapy include entry-level, professional, and post-professional degrees, as well as a hybrid OTD option for practicing occupational therapists. The School of Education began offering classes to educate occupational therapists in 1940 and, in 1973, established the world's first doctor of philosophy program in occupational therapy.
The department includes a post-professional MA in pathokinesiology as well as a range of doctoral degrees and an advanced certificate in the study and practice of physical therapy. The School of Education first offered a bachelor's degree in physical therapy in 1927, with senior year education conducted in collaboration with the Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled (now known as the Hospital for Special Surgery).
Undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs are available in the below areas of study, with initial and professional certification options and some hybrid offerings:
Bilingual Education
Childhood Education
Computer Science Education
Early Childhood Education
English Education
Environmental Conservation Education
Literacy Education
Math Education
Science Education
Social Studies Education
Special Education
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
World Language Education
The department is home to projects and centers including the Constantine Georgiou Library and Resource Center for Children and Literature, the Project for Developing Chinese Language Teachers, an Office of School and Community Partnerships, the Multilingual Learners Think Tank, Practitioner Action Research, and more.
ARCADIA for Suicide Prevention: research lab founded that takes a developmentally-informed, population-health approach to adolescent suicide
Global TIES for Children: a global research center founded by Lawrence Aber and Hirokazu Yoshikawa in 2014 to advance science to inform programs and policies that promote children's holistic learning and development
PATH Program: a New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) Specialized Program that serves students using a culturally responsive, trauma-informed, healing-centered approach
SAFE Spaces: in partnership with the NYC Administration for Children's Services (ACS), uses evidence-based principles to provide training and coaching support for frontline staff working in ACS placement facilities
Founded in 1978 as the School's first research center, Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and Transformation of Schools is a university-based center providing research and professional learning services that support equity-focused, evidence-based innovations in educational research and programming.
Metro Center supports other projects and initiatives, including:
Center for Policy, Research, and Evaluation (PRE): conducts applied research and evaluation studies focused on promoting positive educational outcomes for youth
Education Justice Research and Organizing Collaborative (EJ-ROC): provides research, data, policy, and strategic organizing support for the education justice movement
Innovations in Equity and Systemic Change (IESC) (previously TAC-D): provides professional development, technical assistance, and consultancy to educational institutions in general and special education
Liberty Partnerships Program: offers students college and career readiness through an individualized approach
Nest Support Project: provides training, professional development, and on-site consultation for teachers, therapists, and administrators who work with autistic learners; in 2021, began partnership with NYCPS and Hunter College's School of Education, creating the ASD Nest program which, as of 2026, serves 2,215 students across 91 New York City schools
The Music and Audio Research Laboratory focuses on understanding and modeling sound processing, innovating the analysis, organization and retrieval of acoustic data, and advancing applications in health, accessibility, creativity, and education.
The Nordoff-Robbins Center provides individual music therapy, group music therapy sessions, and music instruction (including group classes) for people of all ages. The center also conducts research on the creative and developmental processes of music therapy, as well as offers training and resources for current and prospective music therapists.
Program for Inclusion in Neurodiversity Education (PINE)
The Program for Inclusion in Neurodiversity Education works with educators, community organizations, and caregivers to integrate neurodiversity-affirming practices and increase accessibility for children.
Founded in 2008, the Research Alliance for New York City Schools conducts rigorous studies on topics that matter to New York City's public schools. It maintains a unique archive of longitudinal data on city schools and communities and advances educational equity by providing non-partisan evidence about policies and practices that promote student development and academic success.
The Steinhardt Institute for Higher Education Policy defines and assesses challenges facing colleges and universities.
The Wallerstein Collaborative for Urban Environmental Education and Sustainability was established in 2000 to promote environmental literacy and sustainability by working with educators in K-12 classroom settings, graduate students, and faculty in colleges and universities.
Betty Comden, lyricist, playwright, and screenwriter
Adelaide Hawley Cumming, vaudeville performer, radio host, and living trademark "Betty Crocker"
C. C. DeVille, guitarist
Stefanie DeLeo, author and playwright
Eric Dever, painter
Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, preservationist, historian, writer, and New York City Landmarks Preservation Commissioner
Katrina Rose Dideriksen, actress and singer
Monica Dogra, actress and musician
Emira D'Spain, model and social media influencer
Shefali Razdan Duggal, political activist, diplomat, and United States ambassador to the Netherlands in the Biden Administration
Mary Beth Edelson, artist
Claire Fagin, nurse, academic, and educator
Vernice Ferguson, nurse and healthcare executive
Steven Feifke, jazz pianist and composer
Jack Fina, bandleader, songwriter, and pianist (as New York College of Music)
Margaret Anne Florence, actress, singer, and model
William Gaines, founder and publisher of Mad magazine
Nolan Gasser, composer, pianist, and musicologist
Catherine Alicia Georges, nurse
Albert Glinsky, composer and author
Ann Grifalconi, author and illustrator of children's books
Jerry Gonzalez, jazz trumpeter and percussionist (as New York College of Music)
Happy Hairston, professional basketball player
Daniel M. Hausman, philosopher
Dorothy Height, civil rights and women's rights activist
Loyce Houlton, dancer, choreographer, dance pedagogue, and arts administrator
Delores G. Kelley, American politician from Maryland
Amy Kohn, composer, lyricist, singer, pianist and accordionist
Teresa Patterson Hughes, educator, politician, and California State Senator
Kathy Iandoli, journalist and author (also faculty)
Arielle Jacobs, singer and actress
Robert Jarvik, developer of the artificial heart
Jay Armstrong Johnson, actor, singer, and dancer
Susan Kare, artist and graphic designer
William Loren Katz, teacher, historian, and author of African-American history
Lucy Kelston, operatic soprano (as New York College of Music)
Jerome Kern, composer of musical theatre and popular music (as New York College of Music)
Kevin Kern, Broadway actor
Daniela Lalita, musician, model, and artist
Burt Lancaster, actor
Lauv, singer, songwriter, and record producer
Emily Lazar, mastering engineer and founder and president of The Lodge
Tania León, conductor and composer
Daniel Lind-Ramos, painter and sculptor
Sheila Lukins, cook and food writer
Joe LaPorta, mastering engineer at Sterling Sound
Annie B. Martin, labor and civil rights activist
Barry Manilow, pop singer and songwriter (as New York College of Music)
Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika, politician and Ambassador of the Republic of Zambia to the United States
Frank McCourt, author
Miles McMillan, model, actor, and painter
Ruthie Ann Miles, musical theatre actress and singer
Marvin Miller, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association
Velmanette Montgomery, politician and New York State Senator
Bruce Morrow, radio host
Ildaura Murillo-Rohde, nurse, academic, and UN Representative to UNICEF
Needlz, record producer and songwriter
Jules Olitski, painter, printmaker, and sculptor
Gemma Peacocke, composer
Lenny Pickett, saxophonist and musical director for the Saturday Night Live Band (also faculty)
Pearl Primus, dancer and choreographer
Joya Powell, dancer, choreographer, and educator
Joseph Reagle, digital technology and culture scholar (also faculty)
Cornelius L. Reid, author and vocal pedagogue specializing in the bel canto technique (as New York College of Music)
Ian Riccaboni, professional wrestling commentator
Will Roland, actor and singer
Charlotte Ronson, fashion designer
Hafiz Sahar, academic scholar, educator, and author
Martin Scorsese, multi award-winning filmmaker
Paul Scheer, actor, comedian, writer, and director
Matthew Sklar, composer for musical theatre, television, and film
John Patrick Shanley, screenwriter, playwright, and director
Elena Shaddow, musical theatre performer and vocal coach
Joel Shapiro, sculptor
Wayne Shorter, jazz saxophonist and composer
Tillotama Shome, film actress
Marilyn Singer, children's book author
Alan Silva, jazz double bassist and keyboardist (as New York College of Music)
Ferdinand Sorenson, music educator (as New York College of Music)
Eileen Southern, musicologist, researcher, author, and teacher
Olivia Smith, journalist
Meng Tang, media artist and art curator
Harriet Taub, executive director of Materials for the Arts
Cecil Taylor, pianist, poet, and pioneer of free jazz (as New York College of Music)
Dara Taylor, composer for film and television
LeRoy T. Walker, track and field coach and president of the United States Olympic Committee
Andrew Watt, record producer, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist
Harvey Weisenberg, politician
Austin Wintory, composer for video games and film
Michael Zimmer, privacy and data ethics scholar
Ed Goodgold, music industry executive and writer known for coining the term "trivia"
Jonathan Haas, timpanist and percussion studies professor
Eduardus Halim, pianist and inaugural holder of the Sascha Gorodnitzki Chair in Piano Studies
Perry Halkitis, psychological researcher and Professor Emeritus
Shadi Harouni, artist and art critic
Lyle Ashton Harris, artist in photographic media, collage, installation art and performance art
Jennifer Hill, statistician specializing in causal inference with applications to social statistics
Martha Hill, dance instructor
Kathy Iandoli, journalist and author (also alum)
James Weldon Johnson, author, politician, poet, civil rights activist, and educator
Charlton McIlwain, author and academic focused on race and media in politics and social life
Teboho Moja, educationist, academic, author, and activist
Marion Nestle, nutritionist, public health advocate, and Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition and Food Studies Emerita
Susan B. Neuman, educator, and researcher in early childhood and literacy development
Jeanne L. Noble, educator and government administrator
Janice Pendarvis, singer, songwriter, voiceover artist, and vocal coach
Neil Postman, education reformer, author, media critic, and creator of the Department of Media Ecology
Lenny Pickett, saxophonist and musical director for the Saturday Night Live Band (also alum)
Diane Ravitch, historian of education, educational policy analyst, and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education
Joseph Reagle, digital technology and culture scholar (also alum)
Louise Rosenblatt, scholar on the teaching of literature and director of the doctoral program in English Education
John Scofield, jazz-rock guitarist and composer
Elena Shaddow, musical theatre performer and vocal coach (also alum)
Linda Sormin, ceramics artist
Marita Sturken, scholar, author, professor, and critic
Lee Summers, actor, composer, theatre producer, and drama professor
Jacob Weinberg, pianist and composer (as New York College of Music)
Julia Wolfe, composer and professor of music
Hale Woodruff, printmaker, muralist, draftsman, and painter
Hirokazu Yoshikawa, community and developmental psychologist and Courtney Sale Ross Professor of Globalization and Education
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development across IJR