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I recently visited the Pace University campus in Lower Manhattan to speak directly with students studying there. What I'm sharing below comes from those real conversations — the advantages they highlighted, the challenges they hadn't expected, and the details that will make your 'Why Pace?' answer land with a visa officer. Pace is particularly popular with Indian students, especially those pursuing accounting, finance, and management, but it also has science and engineering programs. Whichever stream you're in, these four points are what genuinely set Pace apart.
1. The location is not just a selling point — it is a weekly academic advantage
The most obvious thing about Pace is that it sits right in the middle of Manhattan. But when you say this at your visa interview, don't stop at 'it's in New York City.' What that location actually means in practice is that the university places intense importance on industry exposure — and that exposure happens every single week. Students told me that professionals from firms like Goldman Sachs, other major banks, and private equity companies come to campus regularly. These aren't one-off guest lectures. They are detailed, in-depth discussions that are structured more like mini-projects. You participate, you contribute, and the work you do goes directly onto your resume. Every week you are at Pace, you have a concrete opportunity to add credentials to your profile — and that directly improves your chances of securing CPT and OPT placements.
2. Student clubs are more rigorous than most people expect
This one surprised even the students I spoke to. Pace has a strong student club culture, and for Master's students, these clubs are domain-specific — finance, entrepreneurship, accounting, and more. The students themselves said they had no idea going in just how seriously these clubs operate. Being part of, say, the finance club doesn't just give you a line on your CV. It gives you greater visibility with the very companies recruiting on campus, opens up more industry connections, and can directly improve your prospects for CPT and OPT opportunities. If you are serious about a career in a particular domain, the student clubs at Pace are a meaningful extension of your academic work — not an afterthought.
3. On-campus jobs are genuinely available — and they come in three tiers
One of the clearest things that came out of my conversations with Pace students is that on-campus employment is actually accessible here. At many universities, students struggle to find on-campus work simply because there aren't enough openings. That doesn't appear to be the case at Pace. The on-campus jobs fall into three categories:
Category 1 — Café, front desk, and administrative roles
These are the most accessible entry points. You might be working in the campus café, managing the front desk, or supporting the administrative side of university operations.
Category 2 — Student assistant to a professor
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Category 3 — Graduate assistant
This is the most rigorous and most rewarding tier. As a graduate assistant you work with a professor on their research, help build out courses, and contribute to preparing class curriculum. All three categories pay approximately 15 dollars per hour, and you are permitted to work a maximum of 10 hours per week on campus. I even came across students who were holding two on-campus jobs simultaneously while managing three or four courses and staying active in extracurricular activities. That income is meaningful — at around a thousand dollars per month in living expenses if you're staying off campus, your on-campus earnings can go a long way toward offsetting your costs.
4. The academic schedule is demanding — prepare for that honestly
As a Master's student at Pace you will typically take at least three courses per semester. Classes run for about three hours each — morning, afternoon, or evening slots from 6 pm to 9 pm — and the university still follows a hybrid model, so some classes can be attended online. But here is what students really wanted to flag: each class requires four to five hours of preparation beforehand. The teaching approach is case-study driven, which means your class participation matters and you need to arrive having already done the reading and understood what will be discussed. When you add up three classes, the prep time for each, group project sessions, on-campus work shifts, and extracurriculars, you are on campus or working toward coursework almost every day of the week. Going into Pace knowing this will help you plan your finances, your schedule, and your expectations realistically.
The Indian student community at Pace — PISA
There is a large and active Indian student community at Pace called PISA. Students described it as massive, which makes sense given how many Indian students are enrolled there. PISA organises Indian festivals — Diwali, Holi, Dandiya — and holds regular meetups. If you are moving abroad for the first time, being part of a community like this genuinely eases the transition. It is worth mentioning in your visa interview if it's relevant to why you feel comfortable making this move.
What does Pace actually cost? Be honest with yourself and your visa officer
Pace is expensive — the location in New York City and the quality of infrastructure mean it isn't a budget option. Tuition typically ranges from 40 to 50 lakhs INR for a Master's degree. On top of that, if you are living off campus, expect to spend somewhere between 900 and 2,000 dollars per month on accommodation and living expenses. A rough ballpark for total Master's costs, excluding on-campus income, is around 50 lakhs INR plus approximately 1,000 dollars per month in living expenses. One honest piece of feedback I heard repeatedly from students was that their actual costs came in slightly higher than the I-20 estimate. So if you are budgeting for Pace, build in a buffer above whatever initial number you see. Your visa officer will ask about your finances — knowing these realistic figures, not just the I-20 number, will help you answer that question credibly.
How to use all of this in your visa interview
When the visa officer asks 'Why Pace University?', you now have specific, honest, experience-backed reasons to give — not generic statements about rankings or reputation. You can speak about the weekly industry access that comes directly from the Manhattan location, the domain-specific student clubs that extend your professional network, the genuine availability of on-campus employment, and the rigorous academic environment. These are real, verifiable characteristics of Pace that show you have done your research and chosen this university thoughtfully. That is exactly what a visa officer wants to hear.
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