Princeton University
Location and Contact Information
Princeton, NJ 08544-0070USA
Main Tel: (609) 258-3000
Web Site
The campus is in a large suburb.
Overview
Princeton University is an independent, coeducational, nondenominational Ivy League institution in the Princeton area of New Jersey, which provides undergraduate and graduate instruction in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and engineering.
Chartered in 1746 as the College of New Jersey--Princeton was British North America's fourth college. It was located originally in Elizabeth and then Newark, the college moved to Princeton in 1756.
In 1896, when expanded program offerings brought the college university status, it was officially renamed Princeton University. In 199, the Graduate School was established. It became fully coeducation in 1969.
The broad spectrum of academic programs includes such new interdisciplinary initiatives as the Lewis Center for the Arts, the Center for African American Studies, and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.
Princeton's main campus in Princeton Borough and Princeton Twp. consists of 180 buildings on 500 acres. The university also owns 759 acres in the township and 214 acres in the borough.
Princeton is also one of the region's largest private employers and brings 750,000 visitors and approximately $2 billion in economic activity to the area.
According to the U.S. News & World Report, the university has ranked first among national universities from 2001 to 2008. Princeton was No. 1 in a new ranking of "America's Best Colleges" by Forbes.com and No. 2 in the Best National Universities category in "U.S. News' 2009 America's Best Colleges." Princeton topped several categories in the Princeton Review and was ranked among the top 25 best colleges by Black Enterprise Magazine.
Princeton University is made up of the following academic units:
- Butler College
- Forbes College
- Mathey College
- Rockefeller College
- Whitman College
- Wilson College
The many student organizations and clubs of Princeton University include the American Civil Liberties Union of Princeton, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Black Student Union, the Bulgarian Undergraduate Society, Colosseum Club, Crossword Puzzle Club, Entrepreneurship Club, Friends of Lebanon, German Cultural Organization, Organization of Women Leaders, Photography Club, Students Againts Domestic Violence.
The Princeton athletic teams are called the Tigers. They include baseball, basketball, crew, cross country, fencing and football for men, and basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, squash and water polo for women. The university competes in the Ivy League Conference.
The campus offers dozens of literary journals and ensembles in dance, music and theater for art-oriented students.
Among the famous alumni of Princeton University are Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States; U.S. President Woodrow Wilson; Adlai Stevenson, former Governor of Illinois and Democratic Presidential Candidate; Bill Bradley, U.S. Senator from New Jersey and Hall of Famer basketball star; U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justices Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor; James Baker and George Schultz, former U.S. Secretaries of State; Joshua Logan, seven-time Tony Award-winning director/writer; writer F. Scott Fitzgerald; Thornton Wilder, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner in fiction and drama; award-winning actors James Stewart and Jose Ferrer; Ethan Coen, filmmaker; Moe Berg, baseball player and U.S. spy; Jeff Bezos, founder of amazon.com; and Ben Bernake, chair of U.S. Federal Reserve.
Highlights (vs. Other Schools)
- Many students concentrating in mathematics, science, engineering, family and social work, and liberal arts.
- High faculty salary.
- High SAT scores (combined Verbal and Math).
- Selective admissions.
- High percentage of students are from out-of-state.
- Good faculty-to-student ratio.
- Large number of programs of study offered.
- Number of dorm rooms for students.
- Large number of students.
- High male/female ratio.
- High yield: the portion of accepted students who enroll.
School characteristics:
- The school is private, not-for-profit.
- Academic calender: Semester.
- Carnegie classification: Doctoral/Research Universities, Extensive.
Features of note:
- The school offers a faculty tenure system.
- There are one or more libraries on-campus.
- Campus housing is available.
- Students may study abroad.
- ROTC.
Tuition and Financial Aid (2009-2010)
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| State Tuition and fees | $ 35,340 |
| Room | $ 6,340 |
| Board | $ 5,340 |
| Books and supplies | $ 1,260 |
| Other | $ 2,980 |
Financial Aid
Princeton participates in US Title IV financial assistance programs.
In 2009-2010, 58% of students received financial aid of some sort.
| Grants | % of Students | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Any Grant | 57% | $32,449 |
| Institutional Grant | 57% | $31,339 |
| Federal Grant | 10% | $5,995 |
| Pell Grant | 10% | $3,217 |
| Other Federal Grant | 10% | $2,924 |
| State or Local Grant | 1% | $2,658 |
| Loans | % of Students | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Student Loan | 12% | $3,276 |
| Federal Loan | 4% | $3,941 |
| Other Loan | 9% | $2,592 |
(Please refer to BrainTrack's financial aid articles section for background information.)
Similar Schools
Based on proprietary BrainTrack computer comparisons against all other US colleges, these schools appear to be most similar to Princeton University:
Click a column header to sort.
| School | Location | Enrollment | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge, MA | 10,299 |
| 2 | Stanford University | Stanford, CA | 17,833 |
| 3 | Brown University | Providence, RI | 8,318 |
| 4 | Dartmouth College | Hanover, NH | 5,848 |
| 5 | Smith College | Northampton, MA | 3,101 |
| 6 | Wesleyan University | Middletown, CT | 3,149 |
| 7 | Williams College | Williamstown, MA | 2,072 |
| 8 | Wellesley College | Wellesley, MA | 2,498 |
| 9 | Bowdoin College | Brunswick, ME | 1,723 |
| 10 | Colgate University | Hamilton, NY | 2,844 |
Degrees Awarded (in 2009-2010)
| Degree | Total Earned | Different Programs |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelor | 1,136 | 35 |
| Master | 403 | 39 |
| Doctorate | 349 | 38 |
Faculty
Tenure (2009-2010):
| Full-Time Faculty | Total | |
|---|---|---|
| With tenure | 549 | |
| Without tenure; working toward tenure | 167 | |
| Without tenure; tenure not available | 131 |
Students
Student enrollment was 7,330 in 2009-2010 (6,977 full-time equivalent).
About 50% of the freshmen class in 2009-2010 was male and women were 50% of the class.
Undergrads are 66% of enrolled students and graduate students are 34%.
Students under 25 years old represent 75% of the student body. About 0% of the school is at least 40 years of age.
Admissions Summary (2009-2010)
Applicants Admitted Men 10% Women 10% All 10%
SAT Test Scores:
SAT Middle 50% Verbal 690-790 Math 700-790 Writing 700-780
Room and Board
Princeton provides on-campus housing for 4,870 of its 6,977 (full-time) students (as of 2009-2010). The school requires freshmen to live on campus.
Athletics
School sports include football, basketball, baseball, and track. The school is in the Ivy Group for major sports.
International Study
About 11% of freshmen are from countries other than the US.
International applicants are required to take the TOEFL exam.
Graduate School Focus
Princeton offers graduate (post-Bachelor) studies. The highest degree offered is the Doctorate (Research/Scholarship).
The school's Graduate School Carnegie Classification is Comprehensive Doctoral (No Medical/Veterinary).
Programs of Study
(Number of degrees in 2009-2010 in parentheses)
ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING
- Architecture (BArch, BA/BS, MArch, MA/MS, PhD)
BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT
- Finance
COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
- Computer Engineering
ENGINEERING
- Chemical Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Operations Research
FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK
- Public Policy Analysis
FINE ARTS
- Art History, Criticism and Conservation
LIBERAL ARTS
- Anthropology
- Classics/Classical Languages, Lit & Linguistics
- Comparative Literature
- Demography and Population Studies
- East Asian Studies
- Economics
- English Language and Literature
- French Language and Literature
- German Language and Literature
- History
- Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies
- Near and Middle Eastern Studies
- Political Science and Government
- Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
- Slavic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
- Sociology
- Spanish Language and Literature
MATHEMATICS
- Applied Mathematics
- Mathematics
MUSIC
- Music
RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY
- Philosophy
- Religion/Religious Studies
SCIENCE
- Astrophysics
- Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology
- Chemistry
- Ecology
- Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences
- Molecular Biology
- Physics
THERAPY AND COUNSELING
- Psychology