Princeton University
An undergraduate-focused research university where every student writes a senior thesis one-on-one with a faculty adviser.
- Acceptance rate
- 4.4%
- Class of 2029 (entered fall 2025)
- Students
- 9,281
- 5,916 undergraduates
- International
- 13%
- of students
- Student–faculty
- 8:1
- ratio
- Tuition
- $68,140
- 2026-27
About Princeton
Princeton is a private research university in a small New Jersey town, chartered in 1746 and one of the oldest colleges in the United States. Its graduate school is small relative to the college, so undergraduates get unusual access to faculty: most lecture courses break into precepts, weekly discussion groups where students argue through the readings, and around 70 first-year seminars capped at 15 students are taught each year inside the residential colleges.
Students apply to the university rather than to a school or department. Once enrolled they pursue either the A.B. (Bachelor of Arts) or the B.S.E. (Bachelor of Science in Engineering), choosing from 37 majors and more than 50 minors and certificate programs. The A.B. includes concentrations in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the School of Architecture; about a quarter of each class studies in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. In junior and senior year every student does independent research that culminates in a senior thesis supervised one-on-one by a faculty member.
Princeton suits students who want a close-knit, campus-centred college experience with serious research built in from the start. It has no law, medical or business school, which keeps the focus on the arts and sciences, engineering and public policy, and its all-grant financial aid applies equally to international students.
Dei Sub Numine Viget
“Under God's Power She Flourishes” — university motto
Why students choose Princeton
Every student completes a senior thesis with a faculty adviser; the Mudd Manuscript Library holds more than 60,000 of them, including those of Sonia Sotomayor and Michelle Obama.
Admission is need-blind for all applicants, including international students, and aid packages meet 100% of demonstrated need with grants instead of loans.
The precept system and first-year seminars limited to 15 students mean small-group teaching by senior faculty from the first semester.
Admitted students can take a service-oriented gap year abroad through the university-sponsored Novogratz Bridge Year program before starting classes.
Admissions
Class of 2029 (entered fall 2025)
About 1 in 23 applicants is admitted
1,868 admitted from 42,303 applicants
Middle 50% of admitted students scored in this range.
Middle 50% of admitted students scored in this range.
Single-choice early action and regular decision pools combined; 1,408 admitted students enrolled.
Deadlines
- Single-Choice Early Action Non-binding Next deadline · In 26 daysNovember 1, 2026
Restrictive: no early application to any other private US college. Decision mid-December; optional arts supplement due November 6; financial aid application due November 9.
- Regular Decision Non-binding In ~3 monthsJanuary 1, 2027
Decision late March; optional arts supplement due January 8; financial aid application due February 1.
Princeton lists these dates without a year; its Princeton-specific questions are published for the 2026-27 cycle, so they apply to fall 2027 entry. Reply deadline May 1.
How to apply
Common App or QuestBridge Application plus Princeton-specific questions (one 250-word academic essay, a 400-500 word 'Your Voice' essay, a 250-word service essay and three 50-word short answers), a graded written paper, school report, counselor and teacher recommendations and midyear report; optional arts supplement. Application fee $75, waivable for need.
What admissions looks for
- Intellectual curiosity and a record of pursuing and achieving academic excellence, read in the context of your school and education system.
- Strong personal and extracurricular accomplishments; Princeton says it cares about what students have done both in and out of the classroom.
- Clear analytical writing, which is why a graded, thesis-driven paper from an English, history or social studies class is required.
- Your perspective and engagement with community and service, the themes of the 'Your Voice' and service essays.
Tips for applying to Princeton
- 1 Choose your graded written paper carefully: Princeton wants expository, thesis-driven analytical writing with the teacher's grade and comments, not lab reports or creative writing.
- 2 Answer the academic essay for the degree you intend: A.B. and undecided applicants get a different 250-word prompt from B.S.E. (engineering) applicants.
- 3 Single-choice early action is non-binding but restrictive, so do not apply early to another private US college if you use it.
- 4 Testing is optional for fall 2027 entry, but 60% of the most recent class submitted SAT scores with a middle range of 1490-1560; send a score if it sits in or above that band.
- 5 International applicants should submit predicted or achieved external exam results (IB, A-levels, national exams) as they become available; no GPA conversion is needed.
What are your chances?
Sign up to see your personalized admission chances for Princeton University
Sign up to see your chancesCosts & financial aid
2026-27 · figures in USD
Admission is need-blind for all applicants, including international students, and Princeton meets 100% of demonstrated need with grants; since 2001 student loans have been replaced by grants in every aid package. There are no merit or athletic scholarships.
- 71%
- Class of 2030 qualifying for aid
- $83,000
- Average grant for aid recipients (2026-27)
- $7,574
- Average net cost for aid recipients (tuition, fees, housing, food)
- $0 family contribution
- Typical family income of $150,000
- 89%
- Recent seniors graduating debt-free
Academics
Academic calendar: Semesters
Senior thesis
Required of every A.B. and B.S.E. student, supervised one-on-one by a faculty mentor and based on original research, fieldwork or a creative project.
Computer science (A.B. or B.S.E.)
The only major offered under both degrees, so students can study it within the liberal arts track or the engineering track.
Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
An undergraduate concentration within the A.B. that leads into policy, government and public service.
Freshman seminars
About 70 seminars a year capped at 15 students, taught by senior faculty and hosted in the residential colleges.
Novogratz Bridge Year
A Princeton-sponsored, service-oriented gap year abroad offered to admitted students before they start.
Research
- Princeton manages the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, a US Department of Energy national laboratory for fusion research.
- Princeton mathematician June Huh received the 2022 Fields Medal for work in combinatorics.
- Undergraduates do independent research in their home department in junior and senior years, ending in the senior thesis.
Schools & faculties
- School of Engineering and Applied Science
- Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
- School of Architecture
- Graduate School
Student life
Princeton is almost entirely residential. On-campus housing is guaranteed for four years, first- and second-years must live on campus, and nearly all juniors and seniors stay. Entering students are randomly assigned to a residential college (Butler, Forbes, Mathey, Huo, Rockefeller, Whitman or Yeh), each led by a faculty head and staffed with junior or senior advisers. The colleges host seminars, meals with professors, language tables and intramural rivalries. Tradition runs deep: every class holds a reunion every year, drawing about 25,000 alumni, family and friends.
- Residential colleges house students from all four class years plus some graduate students.
- Reunions draws about 25,000 alumni, family and friends to campus every year.
- Ivy League athletics: Princeton has won more Ivy League titles than any other member and played in the first intercollegiate football game, against Rutgers in 1869.
- The American Whig-Cliosophic Society is the oldest college literary and debating club in the United States.
Housing. Housing is guaranteed for all four years and required for first- and second-year students.
Location
Princeton is a small, leafy town in central New Jersey, with the shops and cafes of Nassau Street running along the edge of campus. It sits roughly halfway between New York City and Philadelphia, and trains from nearby Princeton Junction reach both. Daily life centres on campus; the big cities are day trips rather than routine.
Nearest airport: Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
Notable alumni
- JM James Madison4th President of the United States (Class of 1771)
- MO Michelle ObamaFormer First Lady of the United States and author (A.B. 1985)
- JB Jeff BezosFounder of Amazon and Blue Origin (B.S.E. 1986)
- SS Sonia SotomayorAssociate Justice of the US Supreme Court (A.B. 1976)
- AT Alan TuringPioneer of computer science and wartime codebreaker (Ph.D. 1938)
- JN John NashMathematician and Nobel laureate in economics (Ph.D. 1950)
- JS Jimmy StewartAcademy Award-winning actor (A.B. 1932)
- WK Wendy KoppFounder of Teach For America and co-founder of Teach For All (A.B. 1989)
Frequently asked questions
Is Princeton need-blind for international students?
Yes. Princeton admission is need-blind for all applicants, and it meets 100% of demonstrated need for admitted international students with grants, the same as for US students.
Does Princeton require the SAT or ACT?
Not for fall 2027 entry: the 2026-27 cycle is test optional and applicants without scores are not disadvantaged. Princeton will require the SAT or ACT from the 2027-28 cycle (fall 2028 entry).
What SAT score do you need for Princeton?
There is no cutoff, but the middle 50% SAT range for students who entered in fall 2025 was 1490-1560 and the ACT range was 34-35.
What is Princeton's graded written paper?
Every applicant submits a graded paper from an English, history or social studies course in the last three years of secondary school, ideally expository, thesis-driven analytical writing, with the grade and teacher comments included.
How much does Princeton cost?
The estimated 2026-27 cost of attendance is $94,624, including $68,140 tuition. Aid recipients receive an average grant of $83,000, and families earning around $150,000 typically contribute nothing.
Sources & methodology
Figures on this page were checked against official university publications, national application services and ranking publishers in September 2026. Each number is shown with the year or admissions cycle it describes. Always confirm deadlines and fees on the university's own website before applying.
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