Freshman class reflects commitment to access and affordability

By Karin Dienst on Sept. 20, 2010, 6 p.m.

Comprehensive financial aid

The University’s comprehensive financial aid plan helps moderate-, middle- and upper-middle-income families afford the cost of a Princeton education. The figures below show the average grant, by yearly income, for students at various family income levels in the freshman class of 2014.

Tuition, room and board is $48,580 for 2010-11.


Yearly income:
Up to $60,000
Average grant: $48,600
What it covers: Full tuition, room and board, and some expenses


Yearly income:
$60,000 to $80,000
Average grant: $45,100
What it covers: Full tuition, 71 percent of room and board


Yearly income:
$80,000 to $100,000
Average grant: $42,250
What it covers: Full tuition, 47 percent of room and board


Yearly income:
$100,000 to $120,000
Average grant: $38,750
What it covers: Full tuition, 18 percent of room and board


Yearly income:
$120,000 to $140,000
Average grant: $34,700
What it covers: 95 percent of tuition


Yearly income:
$140,000 to $160,000
Average grant: $30,400
What it covers: 83 percent of tuition


Yearly income:
$160,000 to $180,000
Average grant: $26,450
What it covers: 72 percent of tuition


Yearly income:
$180,000 to $200,000
Average grant: $22,700
What it covers: 62 percent of tuition


Yearly income:
$200,000 and above*
Average grant: $17,000
What it covers: 46 percent of tuition

*Most who qualify at this income level have two children in college.

Source: Office of Financial Aid

The Princeton class of 2014, selected from a record number of applicants, reflects continued success in the University's efforts to attract a diverse student body and to make a Princeton education affordable to all students who enroll. 

"At Princeton, access and affordability are core values, and we are extraordinarily fortunate to be able to hold firm to our commitment to the strongest possible undergraduate financial aid program in a period of significant fiscal stringency," Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel said in her report on class of 2014 admissions at the Sept. 20 faculty meeting. "As the data ... make plain, we continue to be tremendously successful in attaining our goal of making Princeton affordable for any student regardless of family financial circumstances."

The class of 2014 is Princeton’s largest, in keeping with a planned gradual expansion of the size of the undergraduate student body as the University moves toward reaching its "steady state" of enrolling 5,200 students by the 2012-13 academic year. The incoming 1,313 freshmen were selected from a record 26,247 applicants. The number of applicants increased 19.5 percent from the previous record of 21,963 for the class of 2013. Overall, Princeton offered admission to 2,311 applicants, or 8.8 percent -- the lowest ever -- of those who applied to the class of 2014. This compares to 10.1 percent in 2009-10. 

The 11 percent expansion of the undergraduate student body began in 2005; 2014 is the second class to have reached the new norm of roughly 1,300 entering students.

This year, 768 freshmen, or 58 percent of the class, are receiving financial aid, with a total of $27 million in scholarships. The average grant is $35,157. The incoming class includes 208 students from low-income backgrounds, or nearly 16 percent of freshmen. 

The class of 2014 is the 13th to matriculate since the University initiated significant policy changes in undergraduate financial aid -- including a pioneering "no-loan" policy -- to make a Princeton education more affordable to a broader range of students. In the class of 2001, the last class to enter before the aid improvements, 38 percent of the students were on financial aid with an average grant of $15,064, and students from low-income backgrounds made up 8 percent of the class.

The class of 2014 includes the largest number of students from minority backgrounds in Princeton’s history, with a total of 490 students from American minorities representing 37.3 percent of the class.  

The class of 2014 also includes 141 international students, constituting 10.7 percent of the class. The international students represent 47 countries.

The class of 2014 is the third freshman class to be evenly balanced  in terms of gender.

The figures for the incoming freshman class do not include the 20 students admitted to the class of 2014 who are participating in the second year of Princeton’s Bridge Year Program, in which they spend a year abroad on service projects. Those students will enroll with the class of 2015. The figures for the class of 2014 do include the 20 students admitted with the class of 2013 who participated in the Bridge Year Program in 2009-10.

According to the Office of the Registrar, Princeton currently enrolls 5,103 undergraduates. (Official opening enrollment numbers will be available in October.) 

Related Stories

Class of 2015 reflects University's commitment to access .

Princeton has enrolled the most diverse freshman class in the University's history, with a record number of students from low-income backgrounds and minority backgrounds included in the 1,300 members of the Class of 2015.

Class of 2013 includes record level of financial aid recipients .

Princeton's class of 2013 is its largest ever and includes a record percentage of financial aid recipients, with 60 percent of the 1,300 incoming freshmen receiving assistance under the University's groundbreaking aid program.

Freshman class reflects success of diversity efforts .

The Princeton class of 2011, selected from a record-high number of applicants, reflects continued success in the University's efforts to attract a diverse student body. 

Freshman class ranks as Princeton's most diverse .

Princeton has enrolled the most diverse freshman class in its history for the third consecutive year, selected from a record-high number of applicants following the University's transition to a single admission process. The class of 2012 includes record representation of students from minority backgrounds and international students, Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel reported at the Sept. 15 faculty meeting. The class also has the highest percentage of incoming students to receive financial aid, reflecting Princeton's efforts to enhance the economic diversity of its student body.

Class of 2009 reflects success of Princeton's diversity efforts .

Princeton's class of 2009 represents continued success in the University's efforts to diversify its undergraduate student body. This year's freshman class includes record totals and percentages of financial aid recipients, low-income students and minorities.

Princeton to reinstate early admission program .

Princeton University will reinstate an early admission program, beginning next year with the class that will enter Princeton in September 2012. The single-choice early action program will require applicants to apply early only to Princeton, but will not require them to decide whether to accept Princeton's offer until the end of the regular admission process.

Princeton's commitment to access, diversity embodied in the Class of 2018 .

Princeton has enrolled its most diverse class in the history of the University, with a record 43 percent of the 1,313 students making up the Class of 2018 coming from various racial and ethnic backgrounds.