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JERSEY CITY, N.J. | New Jersey City University (NJCU) President Andrés Acebo has been honored with inclusion on the NJBIZ Education Power index for the third consecutive year.

The annual listing by NJBIZ, New Jersey’s leading business journal, recognizes the state’s education leaders based on relevant criteria each year. 

Acebo was formally installed last week as the institution's 13th president during a historic investiture ceremony on campus which was attended by hundreds of guests from across the state representing higher education institutions, civic and government organizations, and local and state leadership. He was unanimously appointed as president by the NJCU Board of Trustees in July 2025 after serving as interim president since January 2023.

Acebo was first recognized by NJBIZ  during his inaugural year as interim president and ranked No. 4 overall in the 2024 NJBiz Education Power 50 —the highest ranking in the annual index ever for a leader at NJCU. While the publication did not release individual rankings for this year's list, Acebo's continued inclusion demonstrates his sustained leadership impact in New Jersey higher education.

Under Acebo's leadership, NJCU has achieved unprecedented milestones and orchestrated a remarkable financial and academic recovery. Since taking office during a financial emergency, Acebo’s leadership resulted in Moody's Ratings upgrading NJCU's outlook from "negative" to "stable" in February 2024, followed by Fitch Ratings doing the same in November 2024. In May 2025, Moody's upgraded NJCU's outlook from stable to positive—the first time Moody's has ever assigned a positive outlook to the university. Most recently, Acebo signed a letter of intent in May to advance a historic merger integrating NJCU into Kean University, two mission-aligned institutions that will create Kean Jersey City upon completion.

NJCU was ranked No. 1 in New Jersey and 10th nationally in CollegeNET's 2023 Social Mobility Index, maintaining its No. 1 state ranking and Top 20 national position in 2024. The university graduated 1,667 students in Spring 2024—an 8.2 percent increase in bachelor's degrees from 2023, and an additional 1,544 in 2025.

Acebo is only the third Hispanic to serve as leader of a four-year public institution in New Jersey and the youngest known president to lead a public university in the state. The Hudson County native and proud first-generation son of Cuban exiles has implemented four major strategic initiatives during his tenure: the NJCU Recovery and Revitalization Plan (April 2023), the university's first Academic Master Plan (February 2024), the institution's first Strategic Enrollment Plan (April 2024), and the first-ever Student Development and Community Engagement Strategic Plan (December 2024).

He has also strengthened community partnerships, including the groundbreaking Hudson Connect Program with Hudson County Community College and similar agreements with Essex County College and Mercer County Community College. 

The university's relationship with local communities has flourished under Acebo's leadership, including enhanced partnerships with Jersey City Public Schools and the creation of the NJCU President's Community Advisory Council in August 2024.

Furthermore, Acebo has signed key strategic MOUs, including with the NJEA, Hudson Building Trades, GLACO, AFT Local 1839, Jersey City POBA, Boys & Girls Clubs of Hudson County, Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey (SHCCNJ) and Hudson County Latin American Chamber of Commerce (HCLACC). 

NJCU’s relationship with the Jersey City Public Schools (JCPS) has never been stronger than during Acebo’s tenure. Notably, NJCU in partnership with the A. Harry Moore Laboratory School launched the A. Harry Moore School Life Independence and Future Transitions (LIFT) in October 2024 on campus in Grossnickle Hall and in November 2024 signed an academic articulation agreement with the Jersey City Board of Education aimed at enhancing the operation of the JCPS Visual and Performing Arts Program.

Under his leadership, NJCU introduced the most significant overhaul of its general education curriculum in decades, allowing every course on the approved New Jersey Council of County Colleges (NJCCC) list, including those without direct equivalencies, to be accepted at NJCU for general education credit. The NJCU University Senate, with 95 percent in favor, overwhelmingly voted in favor of the reforms to the General Education program — thus making NJCU the most transfer-friendly institution in the State of New Jersey. 

In Spring 2024, NJCU continued making transformative changes to higher education, dismantling systemic barriers that students face in their degree completions, as the university introduced a pledge of guaranteed schedules for its students. Additionally, NJCU announced plans to absorb the cost of books into the price of tuition beginning in Fall 2024, which will eliminate the uncertainty about the cost of college. 

ÃÛÌÒtv NJCU: 
New Jersey City University is a comprehensive public regional institution committed to providing a high-quality education to a diverse student population. Located in Jersey City, New Jersey, NJCU offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs and is dedicated to fostering an inclusive and ÃÛÌÒtvive environment for learning, professional development, and community engagement. Consistent with our mission, NJCU is recognized as a top university for improving upward economic social ÃÛÌÒtv, ensuring students enrolled in our undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral programs have access to an affordable, diverse environment, and an exceptionally ÃÛÌÒtvive faculty. This prepares them to go on to become the next generation of workers and leaders who improve their communities and the State of New Jersey.

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Contact: 
Ira Thor, Associate Vice President for University Communications and Marketing | ithor@njcu.edu | 201-200-3301