New York University School of Professional Studies

Summary

The New York University School of Professional Studies (SPS) is one of the schools and colleges that compose New York University and that is oriented towards pragmatic, career-connected undergraduate- and masters-level degrees and continuing education offerings. The school was founded in 1934 as the Division of General Education and supplied adult education courses in subjects that were socially useful during the Great Depression in the United States, the home front during World War II, and the postwar era. By 1966, it had been renamed to the School of Continuing Education and came to feature 2,000 continuing education courses with some 50,000 students in them, largely oriented towards servicing career change goals or supporting personal fulfillment. The change to the present name occurred in 2014 and is part of a shift in the school towards providing more degree-oriented programs and enrolling more degree-seeking students and having fewer continuing education students. The school's main offices are located at 7 East 12th Street on the University's main campus in the Washington Square Park area.