A private R1 research university in Princeton, NJ, admitting 4.62% of applicants with an average net price of $6,128.
Princeton, New Jersey
Thinking about Princeton University, a college in New Jersey where more students graduate in Engineering than anything else? The four things worth knowing are what it actually costs after aid, whether you would get in, whether students finish, and what they earn after they do.
Princeton University is a private R1 research university in Princeton, New Jersey, founded in 1746. It enrolls 5,709 undergraduates and 3,324 graduate students, a ratio of graduate to undergraduate enrollment that is smaller than any other Ivy League university. Social sciences account for the largest share of bachelor's degrees, followed by engineering, computer science, and the natural sciences.
Princeton operates no law school, business school, or medical school; its graduate programs focus on the arts and sciences and engineering. Princeton holds a Doctoral University: Very High Research Activity (R1) Carnegie classification and is accredited through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). All undergraduates complete a senior thesis or senior independent project as a graduation requirement.
Official website: princeton.edu
UCD scores every college on four pillars: Outcomes, Value, Affordability, and Selectivity. Within peer group A (four-year selective institutions), Princeton scores 93.53 overall, rated Excellent. Value scores 99.67, the highest of any institution in the peer group, driven by the combination of an average net price of $6,128 and ten-year median earnings of $110,066. Affordability scores 57.00, stronger than any other Ivy, reflecting Princeton's financial aid program which makes attendance effectively free for families earning under $100,000. Outcomes (98.85) and Selectivity (99.04) are near-perfect. All scores use verified federal data only.
Princeton is among the most selective universities in the world, admitting 4.62% of applicants. Princeton is test-optional; submitting SAT or ACT scores is not required and applicants are not penalized for choosing not to submit. Students who submit scores typically average 1,553 on the SAT, with the middle 50% scoring between 34 and 35 on the ACT.
Princeton offers a Restrictive Early Action option with a November 1 deadline; it is non-binding but limits applicants from applying early to other private universities during the same cycle. The Regular Decision deadline is January 1. Princeton's review emphasizes academic excellence, intellectual curiosity, and character; the university has been explicit that grades and rigor of coursework are the most important factors in the review.
Acceptance rate over the last five admission cycles. The trend tells you whether Princeton University is getting harder, easier, or staying about the same.
Princeton's sticker price is $62,688 in tuition plus $20,250 in room and board, bringing the estimated total cost of attendance to approximately $85,000 before aid. In practice, Princeton has the most generous financial aid program of any Ivy League university relative to sticker price.
The average net price after all grants is $6,128 per year, the lowest of any Ivy League university and among the lowest of any private research university in the country. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $41 per year. For families earning between $30,001 and $48,000, the average net price is $352. For families earning between $75,001 and $110,000, the average net price is $4,478. For families earning above $110,000, it averages $36,094.
The average hides a wide spread by household income, so it is worth estimating what a family at your income would actually pay before treating this as the price.
Published cost of attendance, the sticker price before grants and scholarships. Most students underestimate room & board and other expenses.
Application fee: $70 (one-time, due at submission)
Aid is need-based, so net price varies by family income. Here's what each bracket typically pays after grants and scholarships.
Cumulative federal-loan debt across the full borrowing distribution. The 10th and 90th percentiles bracket the typical range; the median sits in the middle.
Median federal-loan debt at graduation broken down by demographic. Each slice's size is proportional to the dollar amount that group typically borrows.
Princeton completes nearly all of the students it enrolls. The six-year graduation rate is 97.61% for full-time, first-time bachelor's-seeking students. The four-year rate is 88.7%, and first-year retention stands at 97.81%. All undergraduates are required to complete a senior thesis or independent project, a capstone that distinguishes the Princeton undergraduate experience from most American universities. These figures reflect both the selectivity of Princeton's admissions and the depth of academic support available through the residential college and precept system.
Completion and earnings carry the most weight in this college's score, and how the UCD Score weighs each measure sets out exactly how they are combined.
Princeton graduates earn at the top of the national distribution. Median earnings are $87,815 six years after first enrolling and $110,066 at ten years. At the ten-year mark, 88.45% of former students earn more than a typical high school graduate. Only 1.97% of enrolled students take federal loans, the lowest rate of any major research university in the country. Median debt at graduation is $10,320, also among the lowest of any private research university. Many Princeton graduates pursue law, medicine, or doctoral programs after graduation, which moderates early earnings while supporting stronger long-term outcomes.
Median annual earnings 6, 8, and 10 years after students first enrolled.
Mean annual earnings 10 years after entry, segmented by demographic. Reveals gaps the headline median can't show.
Median earnings for female grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Median earnings for male grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Earnings of grads from the bottom-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the middle-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the top-third of family incomes at entry.
Princeton enrolls 5,709 undergraduates, a smaller class than most peer Ivies. White students account for 33.65% of undergraduates; Asian 23.45%, Hispanic 10.05%, and Black 8.74%. Nineteen percent of undergraduates receive Pell grants, and 27.74% are first-generation college students. International students make up approximately 12% of the undergraduate class. Princeton's residential college system assigns every incoming student to one of six residential colleges for freshman and sophomore years. Upper-class students may join one of Princeton's eleven eating clubs, a distinctive social institution unique to Princeton that shapes campus culture for many upperclassmen.
Undergraduate student body composition reported to the US Department of Education.
Where students live, learn, and connect at Princeton University. The campus setting, housing profile, and signals that shape day-to-day life here.
After that comes the national picture for Social Sciences graduates, which shows what the field pays across every college rather than just this one.
Princeton University offers an extensive catalog of programs: 111 distinct programs across 17 majors. Below are its strongest majors, each with flagship programs and typical earnings. Open a major to explore it in depth, or browse the full program catalog.
Princeton operates at a 5:1 student-to-faculty ratio. 86.7% of instruction is delivered by full-time faculty. Instructional spending per full-time equivalent student is $73,220 per year. The endowment stands at $33.4 billion, the fourth largest of any university in the world. Princeton's heavy emphasis on undergraduate education relative to peer institutions, combined with its small graduate school, means undergraduates have more direct access to tenured faculty than at universities with much larger graduate programs.
1,052 instructional faculty across 5 ranks. The rank mix shows how many senior faculty are teaching versus contingent or junior staff, with average salary equated to a 9-month contract.
| Rank | Faculty Count | Share | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Professors | 512 | 49% | $299,398 |
| Associate Professors | 121 | 12% | $178,357 |
| Assistant Professors | 190 | 18% | $143,694 |
| Instructors | 13 | 1% | $102,067 |
| Lecturers | 216 | 21% | $110,596 |
Princeton's defining data points are its Value score (99.67, highest in the peer group), average net price ($6,128, lowest of any Ivy), and the near-zero cost for families earning under $100,000. The combination of a $41 average net price for families earning under $30,000 and ten-year median earnings of $110,066 produces the strongest value proposition by the numbers of any Ivy League university.
Princeton does not have a law school, medical school, or business school, which matters for students whose goal is direct entry to a professional program. Best fit for students interested in arts and sciences or engineering who want the strongest financial aid package in the Ivy League; the sticker price is largely irrelevant to admitted students who complete the aid process.
Read against a single profile these cut both ways, which is why it helps to put two colleges side by side on the same measures rather than judging one in isolation.
The questions below address what students and families most commonly search about Princeton: how selective admissions are, how the financial aid program works across income levels, what the senior thesis requirement means, and what graduates earn. Princeton's average net price of $6,128 is the most important financial fact about the university; at most income levels, Princeton costs less than a typical in-state public university.
Elite private grads earn about 18 percent more than selective public flagship grads, but the privates cost 85 percent more net. Flagships win on value.
Private four-year colleges cost 84 percent more in net price than public ones, but their graduates earn just 7 percent more. The cost gap dwarfs the payoff.
The colleges where graduates earn the most for every dollar of net price are mostly community colleges and CUNY campuses, not the famous names. Here is the ranking.
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