A study that appeared this month in the Chronicle of Higher Education ranks Pace University, in Lower Manhattan, as first in the nation among private four-year institutions for moving students who come from households in the bottom 20 percent of income into the top 20 percent.
The study compared the median parent household income for students at colleges and universities across the country with the earnings these same students achieved after graduation. More specifically, the team of economists at the Equality of Opportunity Project who conducted the research aimed to quantify, “the percentage of all students in a birth cohort at a particular college whose parents were in the bottom 20 percent for household income, and who reached the top 20 percent for individual earnings.”
The analysis found that at Pace University, where the median parent household income was $68,000, fully 15 percent of students came from households in the bottom fifth of earnings, and only slightly more than one percent came from households in the top one percent of earnings. But for students who graduated in recent years, the study noted, more than 55 percent were earning in the top 20 percent of income for their age group. When combined with other demographically relevant factors, this tabulates to what the team of the statisticians at the Equality of Opportunity Project call an overall “mobility rate” of 8.43 percent — the highest in the nation for any private four-year college.
This compares favorably to other, better-known local private institutions: Columbia University and New York University, where only 6.9 and 5.1 percent of students came from households in the bottom 20 percent of earnings, respectively. At these institutions, the mobility rates are 3.63 percent (for New York University, earning it 14th place on the national list), and 3.07 percent (for Columbia University, which translates into 29th place in the nationwide rankings).
These data follow a similar study conducted in 2016, in which Pace University placed second in terms of national upward mobility for students from the bottom 20 percent of household income. In that ranking, the New Jersey Institute of Technology was the only institution that scored higher. In this year’s tabulation, six of the top ten private four-year institutions for economic mobility are located in New York State, while seven City University of New York campuses are ranked in the top ten four-year public colleges.
Additionally, Princeton Review ranks Pace as one of the best colleges in the Northeast, while U.S. News & World Report rates its environmental law program as third in the nation, and the Hollywood Reporter lists Pace’s undergraduate and graduate performing arts programs among the 25 best in the world.
All of this recognition comes amid an ongoing renaissance at Pace University, which recently announced a $190-million plan to upgrade its Lower Manhattan campus, located along the south side of the Brooklyn Bridge. The renovation plan will transform the campus, which takes up multiple square blocks and occupies the site of the former New York Tribune building, in which Pace was founded in 1906, during an era when Park Row was a district of newspaper offices. The project envisions (among other enhancements) adding several floors to the flagship building at One Pace Plaza, which has been criticized for resembling at garrison more than an institution of higher learning. (The rampart-like quality of One Pace Plaza’s concrete facade will be tempered by creating new windows to let in natural light.)
The 2013 ribbon cutting for the Pace’s new dormitory
The university has also been on a building spree of another sort in recent years: In 2015, it opened the tallest college residence hall anywhere in the world — a 34-story facility located at the corner of Beekman and William Streets. This followed the 2013 ribbon cutting for a 23-floor dormitory located at 182 Broadway, near the corner of John Street.
Pace hopes to fund its new campus renovation project, in part, with proceeds from the 2016 sale of another student housing facility, a 15-story former office building at 106 Fulton Street that the University bought and converted into dorm rooms in 1999. This transaction brought in more than $60 million.
New York Tribune Building
The number of students enrolled at Pace’s campus in Lower Manhattan has more than quintupled since the start of the 21st century. The increased headcount appears to be driven, at least in part, by Lower Manhattan’s soaring reputation as a desirable place to live, work, and study. The influx of undergraduates, combined with the availability of dormitory space, has also transformed Pace from an erstwhile commuter college into one that draws students from around the nation and the world.
Additionally, Princeton Review ranks Pace as one of the best colleges in the Northeast, while U.S. News & World Report rates its environmental law program as third in the nation, and the Hollywood Reporter lists Pace’s undergraduate and graduate performing arts programs among the 25 best in the world.