College profile
Princeton University
NJ · Private nonprofit · Small city · 39,644 applicants 2023
A parent's read
- Top feeder high schools: Princeton High School (17), The Hun School of Princeton (7), The Lawrenceville School (6), Jericho Senior High School (5), Brunswick School (4). Graduates per class year, from each high school's own published list. 182 high schools' lists name Princeton University; every one is ranked below.
- The major moves the money more than the admit letter. Computer Science grads from here earn about $217,973 four years out; english language and literature grads about $61,323 — a 3.6× spread on the same diploma. Have the major conversation before you deposit, not after.
- Built for the AI economy. About 1 in 8 degrees here is already in AI, computer science, or data fields; its AI research output ranks #30 among US universities. This campus is leaning into the shift, not waiting for it.
- Almost everyone who starts here finishes. 98% graduate within six years — the standard federal measure. Nationally about a third of students who start a bachelor's never finish one, and an unfinished degree is the most expensive outcome in this decision: the debt stays, the credential doesn't.
- Your price depends enormously on whether you qualify for aid — and this college says exactly how. It publishes tuition-free aid for families earning under $250,000. Families who receive aid average about $6,128/yr here; without aid it's the full ~$84,040/yr. The college's own net-price calculator turns all of this into your family's own estimate.
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
Feeder high schools
Which high schools send graduates to Princeton University?
The high schools sending the most graduates per class year to Princeton University, from each school's own published list: Princeton High School (17), The Hun School of Princeton (7), The Lawrenceville School (6), Jericho Senior High School (5), Brunswick School (4). 182 high schools' lists name Princeton University.
Enrolled — from the schools' matriculation lists
All 182 schools, with the class years each list covers
Published, but not ranked — these schools name Princeton University on a list of where their graduates enrolled whose class years we cannot read ("Since 2023", or no class year printed), so their totals are shown rather than divided: St Andrew'S School (9, Since 2023); Pierrepont School (2, not stated); Woodlawn School (2, not stated); Garrison Forest School (1, Three-Year Survey).
How this is counted
182 high schools publish a numbered matriculation list — where their graduates actually enrolled, counted, in the school's own School Profile — and name Princeton University on it. Between them they printed 694 enrolled graduates. Ranked by graduates per class year enrolling at Princeton University, from each school's own published list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, so a one-year list and a five-year list can sit on the same page. A list whose class years we cannot read is not divided by a guess — it is listed below with its total instead.
Is my high school on this list?
Admitted — from the schools' acceptance lists
All 13 schools, with the class years each list covers
How this is counted
13 high schools publish a numbered list of college acceptances — where their graduates were admitted, not where they enrolled — and name Princeton University on it. Between them they printed 55 admissions. Ranked by admissions per class year to Princeton University, from each school's own published acceptances list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. Admits are counted at each college a student was admitted to, the same way the UC Reach Score counts a student admitted to three UC campuses three times — so this is a count of admissions, not of students. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, and a list whose class years we cannot read is listed below with its total rather than divided by a guess.
All 190 feeder schools, ranked →
Counted from each school's own published document, linked on that school's page. A high school that is not here does not publish a numbered list we could read — that is all absence means, and it says nothing about its graduates. Where a school publishes both, the two lists are shown separately: an acceptances list is not a list of enrollments, and the two are never added together.
Parent/student verdict
Highly selectiveHighly selective reach for nearly every applicant. Heavy discounting — among aid recipients average ~$6,128/yr net; strong students should also check the merit grid.
Best for
- Strong academic profiles — students here cluster in the top test and GPA tiers (bands above)
- Students drawn to Social Sciences or Engineering (the two biggest majors)
- Research-oriented students (R1 — top tier of federal research funding)
The reality
- You'd be near the bottom of their admitted class if: SAT below 1500, or ACT below 34, or unweighted GPA below 3.75 (test bands are the school's own; the 3.75 line is our estimate, not a published figure)
- With selective universities, build a balanced college list of Reaches, Targets, and Safeties ⓘ
- Big sticker, but don't rule it out on price — this school publishes tuition-free aid for families earning under $250,000. Without aid the full price is ~$84,040/yr; aid-receiving families average ~$6,128/yr — run the school's own net price calculator for your real number
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price with aid and at full price, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
What are your child's odds here?
Enter their numbers once — this and every college page shows their verdict, and the UC campus cards on California school pages light up with it too. Free, no email.
Weighted is the higher GPA, with honors/AP credit in it — pick whichever your school reports. PSAT scores work in the SAT box.
Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.
High-school GPA
3.95 avg unweightedGPA on the plain 4.0 scale, no honors/AP bonus. When a college publishes an "average admitted GPA of 3.9," it's often this scale — don't compare it to a weighted 4.3. GPA, enrolled first-years
Enrolled first-years by GPA band: 4.00 72.9% · 3.75-3.99 23.3% · 3.50-3.74 2.7% · 3.25-3.49 0.7% · 3.00-3.24 0.3% · 2.50-2.99 0.1%
As published by the college in its Common Data Set / admissions data (2024-25) (source linked above). GPA basis (weighted vs. unweighted vs. 4.0-scale) varies by college and is labeled above.
Outcomes & cost
What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.
Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).
The real cost
What Princeton University actually costs
Which side your family lands on isn't set by any national income line — it's set by Princeton University's own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.
Princeton University's own published aid policy · as published for 2025-26
Financial aid covers the full cost of attendance -- including tuition, housing, food, books and personal expenses -- for most families with incomes up to $150,000 a year. ... Most undergraduate families with incomes up to $250,000 will pay no tuition.
Income thresholds assume typical assets. Policy independently verified against the college's financial-aid pages ↗.
Your odds + estimated cost across your whole college list, side by side.
The payoffTen years of typical graduate pay minus four years of cost — how many dollars ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten. Check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you; median pay reflects who a college admits and what they study as much as the college itself., both ways
+$764K ahead at full price +$1.1M with aidSource: College Scorecard (average net price among Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates who received aid) and each college's published cost of attendance. We don't show the federal net-price-by-income brackets: their categories were fixed in 2008 and never adjusted, and none of the averages is your family's own number — the full story. Payoff = (10-yr median earnings × 10) − (4 years of cost), in dollars — how far ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten; medians travel with the students a college admits and the majors they choose as much as with the college itself. Full price is the published cost of attendance; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.
What students study here
Most popular majors at Princeton University
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Princeton University actually graduates — not just what it markets.
What those majors earn here
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Princeton University's own graduates, not national averages.
| Major (CIP) | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|
| Computer Science. | $217,973 |
| Computer Engineering. | $214,274 |
| Economics. | $160,763 |
| Mechanical Engineering. | $115,927 |
| Public Policy Analysis. | $107,792 |
| Political Science and Government. | $88,576 |
| History. | $80,347 |
| Research and Experimental Psychology. | $63,216 |
| Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology. | $62,344 |
| English Language and Literature, General. | $61,323 |
Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →
Student body & economic mobility
Who attends here — and what the campus adds.
Opportunity Insights data. It measures two things at once: how many lower-income students a college enrols, and how many of them reach the top earnings quintile later. A high rate says the college does both — it does not establish that the campus caused the earnings, because the students it admits differ from the students it doesn't. Read it as a signal about access and destination, not as proof of value added.
Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →
Alternatives to Princeton University
Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.
Or compare any college side-by-side
Deciding on Princeton University?
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Get your child's odds at Princeton University →Score-odds calculator · Improve the score first · Find merit aid
Related reading
Who feeds which college · October 2, 2026
Rankings · October 2, 2026
College admissions · October 2026
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At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantPrinceton University is a private nonprofit four-year college in NJ. It admitted 4% of applicants (39,644 applied, 2023). Test policy: Required.
Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: SAT 1500–1580, ACT 34–35. Average enrolled GPA 3.95 (unweighted, 2024-25, as published by the college).
Cost: about $6,128 a year on average with aid, $84,040 a year at full price.
Median earnings ten years after entry: $110,066 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $1,076,148 ahead with aid, $764,500 ahead at full price.
Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Computer Science ($217,973); Computer Engineering ($214,274); Economics ($160,763).
Economic mobility (Opportunity Insights): 2% of students came from families in the bottom fifth of income, and 66% of those reached the top fifth as adults.
Aid pledge published by the college for 2025-26: families earning under $150,000 pay nothing; families earning under $250,000 pay no tuition; aid packages carry no loans; the college meets full demonstrated need.
High schools that publish a numbered matriculation list and name Princeton University: 182, 694 enrolled students between them — ranked by graduates per class year, most often Princeton High School (17.0 per class year, 17 over 1 class year, Class of 2025); The Hun School of Princeton (7.0 per class year, 7 over 1 class year, CLASS OF 2026 MATRICULATION); The Lawrenceville School (6.0 per class year, 30 over 5 class years, the last five years). Each figure is the number that school printed divided by the class years its own list covers; the totals and years are shown. These are the schools that publish such a list, not every school that sends students; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/princeton-university.
High schools that publish a numbered list of college acceptances naming Princeton University: 13, 55 admissions between them — ranked by admissions per class year, most often Princeton High School (19.0 per class year, 19 over 1 class year, Class of 2025, counted column "Number of Acceptances"); Bronx High School of Science (The) (14.0 per class year, 14 over 1 class year, 2025); Westlake High School (2.0 per class year, 2 over 1 class year, Class of 2025, counted column "# Admitted"). Admits are counted at each college, so this counts admissions, not students. These are a different set of documents from the matriculation lists above and the two are never added together; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/princeton-university.
Machine-readable version of this page: https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/princeton-university.json
Questions families ask
What is Princeton University's acceptance rate? Princeton University is a private nonprofit four-year college in NJ. It admitted 4% of applicants (39,644 applied, 2023). Test policy: Required.
Does Princeton University require the SAT or ACT? Princeton University is a private nonprofit four-year college in NJ. It admitted 4% of applicants (39,644 applied, 2023). Test policy: Required.
What SAT or ACT scores do Princeton University students have? Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: SAT 1500–1580, ACT 34–35. Average enrolled GPA 3.95 (unweighted, 2024-25, as published by the college).
How much does Princeton University cost? Cost: about $6,128 a year on average with aid, $84,040 a year at full price.
What do Princeton University graduates earn? Median earnings ten years after entry: $110,066 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $1,076,148 ahead with aid, $764,500 ahead at full price.
Which majors at Princeton University pay the most? Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Computer Science ($217,973); Computer Engineering ($214,274); Economics ($160,763).
Does Princeton University offer free tuition or meet full need? Aid pledge published by the college for 2025-26: families earning under $150,000 pay nothing; families earning under $250,000 pay no tuition; aid packages carry no loans; the college meets full demonstrated need.
Which high schools send the most graduates to Princeton University? The high schools sending the most graduates per class year to Princeton University, from each school's own published list: Princeton High School (17), The Hun School of Princeton (7), The Lawrenceville School (6), Jericho Senior High School (5), Brunswick School (4). 182 high schools' lists name Princeton University.
+10 more programs
Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com). These figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.