Princeton offers admission to 5.5 percent of Class of 2022 applicants

Princeton University has offered admission to 1,941 students, or 5.5 percent of the record 35,370 applicants for the Class of 2022, in what is the University’s most selective admission process to date. Last year, the University’s admission rate was 6.1 percent. The class size is expected to be 1,296 students for the Class of 2022.

The University’s undergraduate admission office has mailed letters to students in the regular-decision applicant pool, and applicants will be able to see their decisions via secure online access starting today at 7 p.m. In December, 799 applicants were offered admission through single-choice early action.

The University’s generous financial aid program provides the assistance necessary to make sure that a Princeton education is genuinely affordable for every admitted student, including international students. The financial aid program comes in the form of grants, which do not need to be repaid. Over 60 percent of the currently enrolled first-year class receives aid, and the average grant is $50,600 per year. No student is required to take out loans and can therefore graduate debt free. Students who applied for aid with family incomes up to $160,000 typically pay no tuition.

“The admission committee was impressed with the superb academic accomplishments of these admitted students,” Dean of Admission Janet Lavin Rapelye said. “They will bring extraordinary talents, ideas, backgrounds and beliefs to our community. We look forward to greeting them on campus in April for Princeton Preview and getting to know them over the next four years.”

This year’s applicant pool is the largest in the University’s history. During the past 15 years, Princeton’s applicant pool has more than doubled.

“We had to make difficult decisions this year given the strength and depth of the applicant pool,” Rapelye said. “As we do every year, the admission staff conducted a holistic review of each applicant’s academic, personal and extracurricular performance. We could not admit all the qualified candidates.”

Of the applicants, 14,273 had a 4.0 grade point average, and 17,692 had scores of 1,400 or higher on the two sections of the SAT. The applicant pool included students from among 11,126 high schools from 170 countries.

Students receiving offers of admission to the Class of 2022 come from 48 states, plus Washington, D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, with the largest representation from New Jersey, followed in order by California, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida and Virginia. International students represent 12 percent of the admitted students and are citizens of 77 countries, including China, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Greece, Guyana, Haiti, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Morocco, Libya, Norway, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Somalia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Venezuela and Zambia.

Of the students offered admission, 50.5 percent are women and 49.5 percent are men; 53.4 percent have self-identified as people of color, including biracial and multiracial students; 64.5 percent of the admitted students come from public schools, and 17 percent will be the first in their families to attend college. An estimated 23 percent of those admitted are eligible for federal Pell grants for low-income students.

Children of Princeton alumni account for 11.2 percent of the admitted students. Of the students offered admission, 24.8 percent indicated they want to study engineering and 48.3 percent of those students are women.

Admitted candidates have until May 1 to accept Princeton’s offer of admission.

In addition to the 1,941 students offered admission, 1,125 candidates were offered positions on the wait list. Any students on the wait list who may be offered admission in May or June will receive the same financial aid they would have received had they been offered admission this week.

Up to 35 members of the new class are expected to defer their enrollment for a year to participate in Princeton’s Bridge Year Program. The University-sponsored program allows incoming first-year students to spend a tuition-free year engaging in international service work abroad in Bolivia, China, India, Indonesia or Senegal. Applications for the Bridge Year Program will be due in May from students who accept the University’s offer of admission.

“The University’s ongoing commitment to increase the socioeconomic diversity of undergraduates, including those from first-generation and low-income backgrounds, is a priority and one of our initiatives is the reinstatement of the transfer admissions process this year,” Rapelye said.  

The deadline for transfer applicants was March 1 and those candidates will learn of their decisions in early May. A small group of transfer students is expected to enroll in the fall.