Appointed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, President Krislov will help expand college access and affordability statewide

Pace University President Marvin Krislov has been appointed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and confirmed by the New York State Senate to serve on the Board of Trustees of the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC), the state’s higher education student financial aid agency. The appointment reflects Pace University’s commitment to expanding college access and affordability for students across New York.

HESC awards nearly $1 billion in financial aid to more than 330,000 students each year. HESC helps New Yorkers attain their higher education through the administration of programs such as New York’s Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), Veterans Tuition Awards, as well as financial aid outreach and education programs for students and families.

“Higher education is one of the most powerful forces for equity and mobility—but only if it is accessible to all,” said President Krislov. “Financial aid makes that opportunity real. I’m honored by Governor Hochul’s appointment and look forward to serving on the HESC Board to help expand access to higher education for students and families across New York—and to ensure that no one is held back by financial barriers.”

Pace University has long been a leader in promoting educational access and economic mobility. Ninety-eight percent of first-year students receive financial aid, and the University awarded more than $424 million in financial aid, scholarships, and institutional support during the 2023–2024 award year.

In announcing a series of appointments and confirmations across New York State, Gov. Hochul said: “New Yorkers deserve to be served by our state’s best and brightest.”

“These dedicated public servants are leaders in their fields and have made countless contributions to their local communities,” she said. “I am confident they will now use their many talents to benefit residents across the state.”

The average annual institutional aid offered to new undergraduate students is currently $30,400. Pace is ranked among the top 10 percent of private U.S. colleges that provide the best return on tuition investment and in the top 11 percent of U.S. colleges with the highest-earning alumni, according to PayScale—underscoring the long-term value of a Pace education.

Krislov has served as president of Pace University since 2017. He is deeply committed to Pace’s mission ofOpportunitas—providing all students, regardless of economic background, access to the transformative power of education. Under his leadership, Pace is developing innovative new interdisciplinary programs, continuing the transformation of its New York City Campus, and delivering on an experiential education model that produces superior career outcomes. He is personally committed to initiatives supporting student mental health and wellbeing, ensuring college access for all students, and advancing priorities for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Before coming to Pace, Krislov spent 10 years as the president of Oberlin College. Earlier, he was vice president and general counsel at the University of Michigan, where he led the legal defense of the University’s admission policies that resulted in the 2003 Supreme Court decision recognizing the importance of student body diversity.

Prior to entering academic life, he served as associate counsel in the Office of Counsel to the President under President Bill Clinton and later as acting solicitor and then deputy solicitor of national operations in the US Department of Labor. In 2009, President Barack Obama nominated, and the Senate confirmed, Krislov to serve on the National Council on the Humanities, where served until the summer of 2019.

Krislov earned a bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, at Yale University in 1982, and he was named a Rhodes Scholar. He earned master’s degrees at Oxford University and Yale and a juris doctor degree at Yale Law School in 1988.

About Pace University

Since 1906, Pace University has been transforming the lives of its diverse students—academically, professionally, and socioeconomically. With campuses in New York City and Westchester County, Pace offers bachelor, master, and doctoral degree programs to 13,600 students in its College of Health Professions, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Elisabeth Haub School of Law, Lubin School of Business, Sands College of Performing Arts, School of Education, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems.

Pace University has received a $300,000 three-year implementation grant from the Teagle Foundation to launch The City and the Sea: A New York City Fellowship in Civics and Public Service, a new initiative that prepares undergraduates to become civic leaders in New York City.

The new funding builds on a $25,000 planning grant awarded in 2024 and supports the launch of the program, which pairs transformative classroom learning with paid experiential opportunities in New York City public service. Anchored at Pace’s New York City Campus, The City and the Sea is designed to develop a sense of place for students in the Lower Manhattan context of Pace University’s campus, especially as it relates to the water and the waterfront environment.

Beginning in Fall 2025, the fellowship will welcome its first cohort of 10 undergraduate students. The program includes a two-semester academic sequence covering the topics of city politics and policy, and civic leadership and engagement in the context of New York City’s land, coastal and oceanfront governance. This will allow students to learn about the city’s history and theoretical foundations as well as its government, governance, and service delivery - and the ways that they can influence decisions about their local communities. Following these two courses, students will complete summer internships that allow them to practice their civic leadership and engagement skills. Throughout the fellowship, students will engage in immersive, hands-on experiences that are central to Pace’s commitment to learning for real life.

“This fellowship will provide our students a platform for intellectual exploration founded in required reading of transformative historical texts, while developing their understanding of the city around them” said Rebecca Tekula, PhD, principal investigator and executive director of Pace’s Wilson Center. “This particular theme will allow our team to explore with students the question of what it means to be civically engaged in the community where you live, while drawing upon our deep ties to our neighborhood organizations and agencies.”

Housed in the Helene T. and Grant M. Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship in the Office of the Provost, the program represents a strategic investment in public service education and reaffirms Pace University’s role as a forward-looking institution embedded in the life of New York City.

Pace students interested in this unique opportunity can reach out to wilsoncenter@pace.edu for more information.