The NYU Steinhardt Mission

To address the challenges of the 21st century, NYU Steinhardt must continue to evolve. It must build on its rich heritage and focus its diverse academic resources on cutting-edge research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovative action, melding its rich experiences and resources into holistic educative processes that both expand horizons and nurture creativity.

At this critical moment in history, when change on every level of society is affecting even the well-being of the planet itself, Steinhardt has defined its mission to address the challenges of this new global era:

NYU Steinhardt advances knowledge, creativity, and innovation at the crossroads of human learning, culture, development, and well-being. Through rigorous research and education, both within and across disciplines, the School's faculty and students evaluate and redefine processes, practices, and policies in their respective fields and, from a global as well as community perspective, lead in an ever-changing world.

Contributing immeasurably to the richness of Steinhardt’s learning environment is its unique integration of education, media studies, health, and the visual and performing arts into a single graduate and undergraduate school. The opportunities for research and collaboration to better understand human development in such an environment are remarkable—and unrivaled—at any school in the United States.

NYU Steinhardt: The Naming of a School

In 2001, philanthropists Michael and Judy Steinhardt made a historic gift to NYU’s School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Michael Steinhardt was moved by the spirit and commitment he saw in School of Culture, Education, and Human Development students and faculty. “When I visited the school, I saw people whose lives were quite different from the Wall Street types I was used to,” Steinhardt said. “I saw people whose first motivation was not to make money— people who were motivated by learning to be the best they could be. They were people who were going out to fulfill various responsibilities that were extraordinarily important—and yet so different from my world. I made this gift as a person who recognizes the centrality of education in American life.”

A Mission Applied

In the 1990s, the quality of New York City public high schools was on the decline. Building on its century-old tradition of community partnerships, Steinhardt faculty, working together with the New York City Board of Education, conceived of a learning laboratory that would better serve the needs of high school students while providing unique research and internship opportunities for the School. University Neighborhood High School opened in 1999 in Manhattan's Lower East Side neighborhood, welcoming students of all ethnicities and focusing on a single goal: college preparedness. Today, more than 40 NYU students intern as tutors and peer-mentors, and half of the school's teachers are either Steinhardt alumni or graduate students. In 2004, 90 percent of UNHS graduates enrolled in college.