Princeton University

Overview

Princeton University sits in Princeton, New Jersey. Chartered in 1746, it is the fourth-oldest college in the United States. It enrolls 5,825 undergraduates, reports a student-to-faculty ratio of 8:1 (graduate students included), a six-year graduation rate of 97%, and first-year retention of 99%. Undergraduate education is built on the liberal arts, with only two degrees on offer, the Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) and the Bachelor of Science in Engineering (B.S.E.), and 96% of undergraduates live on campus.

Two kinds of families tend to fit. In the first, the student wants to do independent research as an undergraduate, because every Princeton student completes a junior paper and a senior thesis. In the second, family income is moderate but the student’s record is strong, because Princeton’s aid is all grants with no loans, and most families earning up to $150,000 pay nothing. For Irvine families, the first step is to confirm which testing policy applies to the student’s graduating year, then decide how early action and the University of California fit together; the last section of this page lays that out by grade.

Admissions data

4.4%Class of 2029 admit rate

1. Applied42,303
2. Admitted1,868
3. Enrolled1,408

• Bachelor of Arts (A.B.)68%
• Bachelor of Science in Engineering (B.S.E.)26%
• Undecided6%

Based on the degree interest students indicated on their applications.

For the Class of 2029, 10,567 international students applied, 241 were admitted, and 186 enrolled. Princeton offered 1,370 applicants a place on the wait list and admitted 36 from it. Among enrolling students, 60% submitted the SAT and 20% the ACT; the middle 50% SAT composite was 1490 to 1560 and the ACT composite 34 to 35. The Class of 2030, which arrived in fall 2026, has 1,414 students from 48 states, Washington, D.C., and 63 countries; 19% are first-generation college students, 25% are Pell-eligible, 71% receive financial aid, and 12.9% are international citizens.

How to apply

Princeton accepts the Common Application and the QuestBridge Application. Every applicant also completes the Princeton-specific Questions: one academic prompt of up to 250 words matched to the intended degree (A.B. or B.S.E.), a 400-to-500-word “Your Voice” essay, a service and civic engagement essay of up to 250 words, and three short answers of 50 words or fewer. School materials include the transcript, School Report, counselor recommendation, Midyear Report, and recommendations from two teachers who taught the student in higher-level courses (such as AP) in different academic areas. Princeton also requires a graded written paper from an English, social studies, or history course in the last three years of high school, submitted with the prompt, grade, and teacher comments. Students with significant artistic work may add an optional Arts Supplement.

Testing policy is in transition. The 2026-27 cycle (fall 2027 entry) remains test optional, and applying without scores is not a disadvantage. Princeton has announced that testing will be required again from the 2027-28 cycle (fall 2028 entry), after a review of five years of test-optional data found that students who submitted scores performed better academically at Princeton. Applicants who submit scores should test by the October date for SCEA or the December date for Regular Decision, with scores sent directly from the testing agency. Applicants whose native language is not English and whose school does not teach in English must submit the TOEFL, IELTS Academic, Duolingo English Test, or PTE Academic.

Interviews are conducted by alumni and are optional. Applicants may opt out in the Princeton-specific Questions without any disadvantage. Interviews last 30 to 45 minutes, depend on alumni availability in the applicant’s area, and are never held on campus. Admission is need-blind for every applicant, including international students, meaning an aid application never affects the decision, and Princeton states that it reviews all applications in the same manner regardless of citizenship.

Cost and financial aid

2026-27$90,574billed total

• Tuition$68,140
• Fees$314
• Housing$13,010
• Food$9,110

What a family actually pays, by income

1. Up to $150,000$0Most families pay nothing; aid covers tuition, housing, food, books, and personal expenses
2. $150,000 to $250,000Tuition $0Most families receive aid covering full tuition
3. Above $250,000Many families with incomes up to and beyond $350,000 still receive grant aid, especially with more than one child in college

Princeton computes the family contribution with its own simplified formula. For most families living in the United States, it is 25% of income above $150,000 plus 5% of student and parent assets above $175,000; the primary residence and retirement accounts are excluded. In Princeton’s own examples for a family with assets under $175,000 and one child in college, the average contribution is $12,500 at an income of $200,000 and $37,500 at $300,000. Since 2001, grants have replaced loans in every Princeton aid package, and 100% of demonstrated need is met. The average aid package for 2026-27 is estimated at more than $83,000, the average net cost for aid recipients is $7,574, and 89% of recent seniors graduated debt-free. Aid is need-based only, with no academic or athletic merit scholarships, and international students fall under the same policy.

Schools and fields of study

Students apply to Princeton University, not to individual departments, programs, or schools. Once enrolled, they pursue either the A.B. or the B.S.E., choosing among 37 concentrations; computer science is offered under both degrees. Public policy is offered through the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and architecture through the School of Architecture, both leading to the A.B. The University also offers 73 minors and interdisciplinary certificate programs.

A.B. students explore the curriculum in their first two years and take one or two courses in each of seven general areas: epistemology and cognition, ethical thought and moral values, historical analysis, literature and the arts, quantitative reasoning, laboratory science and technology, and social analysis. They also complete a one-semester writing seminar and reach proficiency in a second language, then choose a concentration in the spring of sophomore year. The B.S.E. is granted by the School of Engineering and Applied Science and enrolls roughly 25% of each class; engineers choose one of six departments at the end of the first year, complete requirements in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computer science, and take at least seven courses in the humanities and social sciences. In the Class of 2030, 26% indicated interest in the B.S.E.; students on that path from Irvine high schools have usually reached AP Calculus BC and AP Physics C before applying.

Whether in the A.B. or the B.S.E., every student conducts independent research in the home department during junior and senior years: a junior paper, then a senior thesis written one-on-one with a faculty adviser, or in some engineering departments a substantial independent project. About 75 first-year seminars are offered each year, each limited to 15 students and taught by faculty. Most lecture courses also include a precept, a small weekly discussion group, which is one of the defining features of teaching at Princeton.

Campus life

Princeton guarantees on-campus housing for all four years. First- and second-year students must live on campus, and nearly all juniors and seniors choose to as well. Entering students are randomly assigned to one of seven residential colleges: Butler, Forbes, Mathey, Huo, Rockefeller, Whitman, and Yeh. Each college houses students from all four class years and some graduate students, with a faculty head of college, faculty fellows, a dean, and a director of student life, and every first-year student has a junior or senior residential college adviser. At the end of sophomore year, students may stay in a residential college or keep the affiliation while making other living and dining arrangements. First-year seminars and writing seminars often meet in residential college classrooms.

A timeline for Irvine families

The five Irvine Unified high schools differ in when AP courses open, how weighting works, and how the math sequence accelerates, and those four years of scheduling shape the depth of an application. School-by-school rules are in the IUSD high school guides.

1. Grade 9Set the path, protect grades
   • Settle the math and science sequence
   • Protect core grades
   • Choose one or two activities that can run four years
2. Grade 10First AP courses
   • Take the first AP courses the school allows
   • Keep graded English and history papers with teacher comments
   • Start weighing the A.B. against the B.S.E.
3. Grade 11Finish testing
   • Plan on the SAT or ACT being required from the 2027-28 cycle
   • First sitting in spring, second before summer ends
   • Choose two recommending teachers from higher-level courses in different subjects
4. Fall of grade 12Decide on SCEA
   • SCEA: application and graded paper by November 1
   • Financial aid materials by November 9
   • File the UC application in the same window

Dates and registration deadlines are on the 2026-27 test calendar, and preparation options are on the SAT page.

How EDUBUS helps

EDUBUS college planning runs year by year from grade 9: a four-year course plan built around the rules of each Irvine high school, a testing schedule, a clear activities direction, and from grade 10 onward help keeping and selecting humanities writing for Princeton’s graded written paper. In grade 12 a counselor reviews every application component and the Princeton-specific Questions, and preparing the Princeton Financial Aid Application (PFAA) and FAFSA is part of the service. To see where a student stands relative to schools like Princeton, start with a free assessment.