New America

In May 2026, the Trump Administration released a proposed rule at the Office of Management and Budget that would overhaul the Uniform Guidance. This set of rules delineates how federal grants, cooperative agreements, and other monetary awards to nonprofits, state and local governments, and other grantees are governed. New America has concerns with the proposed changes.

Marriage is having a moment. In many ways, the mood around it—either that it’s becoming obsolete or that it must be saved through a return to distinct gender roles—is changing faster than the facts. In a recent conversation hosted by New America’s Better Life Lab, historian and gender-and-family scholar Stephanie Coontz discussed her new book, For Better and Worse: The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage.

Why does America have the oldest politicians? It’s not by chance, but by design. Join New America’s Political Reform Program and New Voters on August 3rd at 6pm ET to understand the systems that reinforce America’s gerontocracy, the structural reforms that could change them, and what young voters actually want out of US politics. We’ll hear from Oscar Pocasangre and Dustin Wahl, authors of The Age Divide, on why youth is underrepresented in politics.

Maestro College, the for-profit school that carried out instruction almost exclusively with an AI chatbot, is set to lose accreditation in mid-October, cutting it off from accessing federal financial aid. The decision by its accreditor follows New America’s six-month investigation into Maestro, published in July, which revealed that an AI system taught students their lessons and administered their final exams, skirting real faculty completely.

As youth apprenticeship programs continue to expand across the country, many are seeking new ways to ensure students—particularly those facing barriers to participation—can successfully persist and complete their apprenticeships. To support this work, the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA) is pleased to announce the recipients of its inaugural Innovation Grants.

Last year, city officials selected 40 residents through a lottery system – and asked them to help design the future of neighborhoods served by new rapid bus lines. This process was part of a civic assembly, a model of civic engagement where a statistically representative sample of everyday residents learn about a public challenge and then work with officials and experts to produce policy recommendations.

Good afternoon, Ranking Member Scott, and members of the Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today about why the federal adult education program belongs in the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and why the illegal interagency agreement that moved the program to the U.S. Department of Labor is so harmful. My name is Braden Goetz, and I am a senior policy advisor in the Center on Education & Labor at the nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank New America.

On May 15, 2026, New America hosted a virtual panel of experts in early intervention to discuss how to better connect infants, toddlers, and families with supportive services in both policy and practice. Here, we provide a readout of the event, the recording, and slides, along with a note about federal actions that have since taken place.

By documenting Vermont’s path to reform, a new report highlights practical lessons for advocates and policymakers seeking to expand public investment in child care. These lessons include: 1. Lay the groundwork by increasing access where possible. Vermont, as a state, had laid significant groundwork for improving access to high-quality early education before tackling the more ambitious, publicly funded child care infrastructure. The universal pre-K system, which began under Gov.

This article is part of The Rooftop, a blog and multimedia series from New America’s Future of Land and Housing program. Featuring insights from experts across diverse fields, the series is a home for bold ideas to improve housing in the United States and globally. A central question I pose in a recent law review article is, “What would the world look like if the U.S. respected the agency of the unhoused?” The answer is that it would probably have a lot less criminal law.