Additionally, Bank Street's rapid growth since its 1950 genesis—before 1950, the college did not give Master of Science degrees—brought the institution to the attention of the federal government.
As the Civil Rights Act of 1964 reached its final stages before enactment, the United States Commissioner of Education asked Niemeyer to work closely with southern universities to create standards for desegregation programs.
Bank Street faculty were also asked to help create the national Head Start Program and to shape regulations for Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1965.
Niemeyer's presidency is widely credited with Bank Street's evolution into an influential resource in the field of the education.
Under Niemeyer, the college also became a sponsor of Project Follow Through, helping to design its programming and to disseminate the Bank Street method to numerous United States schools.