The New School for Social Research (NSSR) was founded in 1919 as an institution of higher education devoted to adult learning. 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 coursework, the program offered undergraduate credits for some courses and awarded bachelors' degrees. However, the majority of students continued to take non-credit courses.

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 of origin 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. 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.

Although The New School offered some undergraduate credits beginning in the 1940s, the first full-time day program was established in 1972. Called the Freshman Year Program, it initially focused on college-level courses for high school students or recent high school graduates who would then matriculate elsewhere. The program expanded as the Seminar College in 1977 and further grew in 1985 with a large donation and new name, Eugene Lang College.

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.

Names with multiple uses:

The New School 1919-1964: a shortened version of the New School for Social Research 1962-2004: a division of the New School for Social Research focused on adult education 2005-present: a multi-part institution of higher education consisting of eight divisions

The New School for Social Research 1919-1998: an institution devoted to adult higher education that grew to encompass many schools and divisions, some of which offered undergraduate and graduate degrees. 2004: a division of The New School offering graduate degrees in social sciences.