Princeton University — All Rankings Are Wrong

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Basic Information

Type Private

Geographical Reach National

Location Princeton, NJ

Population 2,200,000

Website http://www.princeton.edu/

Weather

Comfortable Days 105 (50%)

Sunshine Hours 2,535 (41%)

Days Without Precipitation 247 (50%)

Demographics

Total Undergraduates 5,761

Men / Women 50% / 50%

From State 15%

From Region 20%

Athletes 20.8%

Racial/Ethnic

White 34%

Asian 23%

International 13%

Hispanic 10%

Black 9%

Mixed 7%

Native American 0%

Men in the Entering Class

Men

Entering Class by Race & Ethnicity

Native Asian Black Hispanic White International

Share of the full-time first-time degree-seeking cohort. Groups IPEDS reports separately — two or more races, and race unknown — are left out, so the lines don't sum to 100%.

Enrolled Undergraduates by Race & Ethnicity

Native Asian Black Hispanic White International

Share of all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates, not just the entering class. Same excluded groups as above.

IPEDS Admissions (2011–2024), Graduation Rates (2011–2024) and 12-month Enrollment (2020–2025) surveys. Years a college didn't file leave a gap in the line.

Schools & Majors

⇅	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
Princeton University	1,096	48% / 52%	11%	$104,139	95	95%
Computer Science	194 —	58% / 42%	16%	$201,352	100	100%
Astrophysical Sciences	10 —	70% / 30%	10%	$95,151	90	—
Chemistry	24 —	29% / 71%	4%	$80,205	77	—
Geosciences	8 —	12% / 88%	12%	$66,153	48	—
Mathematics	22 —	68% / 32%	27%	$141,685	100	—
Physics	36 —	67% / 33%	28%	$96,580	91	—
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology	25 —	32% / 68%	12%	$57,590	22	100%
Molecular Biology	61 —	34% / 66%	7%	$57,197	21	88%
Neuroscience	41 —	24% / 76%	7%	$44,621	4	100%
Quantitative Economics	122 —	70% / 30%	16%	$148,504	100	98%
African American Studies	13 —	0% / 100%	0%	$64,405	42	—
Anthropology	49 —	29% / 71%	8%	$64,378	42	—
Classical Languages	10 —	60% / 40%	10%	$67,498	51	—
Comparative Literature	14 —	29% / 71%	0%	$62,707	37	—
East Asian Studies	4 —	0% / 100%	0%	$66,715	49	—
English	42 —	31% / 69%	5%	$56,647	20	100%
French and Italian	4 —	0% / 100%	0%	$68,140	53	—
German	4 —	25% / 75%	25%	$68,222	53	—
Hispanic Studies	4 —	25% / 75%	0%	$65,284	45	—
History	76 —	64% / 36%	4%	$74,220	67	92%
Linguistics	6 —	33% / 67%	17%	$68,068	53	—
Near and Middle Eastern Studies	4 —	50% / 50%	0%	$66,741	49	—
Philosophy	21 —	62% / 38%	10%	$73,864	66	—
Politics	62 —	61% / 39%	5%	$88,623	85	95%
Psychology	50 —	30% / 70%	12%	$58,396	25	100%
Public Policy	121 —	42% / 58%	12%	$93,312	89	84%
Religion	6 —	50% / 50%	0%	$65,844	47	—
Slavic Languages	— —	—	—	$67,711	52	—
Sociology	31 —	52% / 48%	10%	$44,985	4	84%
Architecture	14 —	21% / 79%	0%	$70,966	60	—
Art and Archaeology	11 —	18% / 82%	9%	$48,299	7	—
Music	7 —	71% / 29%	0%	$45,077	4	—

⇅	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
School of Engineering and Applied Science	241	59% / 41%	12%	$125,254	99	95%
Chemical and Biological Engineering	32 —	41% / 59%	12%	$124,250	99	—
Civil and Environmental Engineering	32 —	34% / 66%	19%	$97,600	91	—
Electrical & Computer Engineering	61 —	69% / 31%	10%	$141,806	100	—
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering	49 —	61% / 39%	8%	$107,086	96	100%
Operations Research and Financial Engineering	67 —	70% / 30%	15%	$137,160	99	90%

Financial

Tuition & Fees $67,453

ROI Percentile 96th

Retention & Graduation

Full-Time Retention 98%

4-Year Graduation Rate 75%

6-Year Graduation Rate 98%

Transfer-Out Rate 0%

Six-Year Graduation Rate

Graduated

Students finishing within 150% of normal time. Each year labels the cohort that entered six years earlier — 2024 tracks the class that started in 2018.

Six-Year Graduation Rate by Gender

Men Women

IPEDS reports the cohort as men and women only.

Six-Year Graduation Rate by Race & Ethnicity

Asian Black Hispanic White International

Each group's completers over its own share of the entering cohort. Groups making up less than 2% of everyone this college graduated over the period are left off — their rates swing on a handful of students and read as noise.

IPEDS Graduation Rates survey, 2011–2024. Years a college didn't file leave a gap in the line.

Earnings by Major Category

Each major category's degree-weighted estimated median 5-year earnings at this college, expressed as a z-score against the national degree-weighted distribution for that category. 0 is the national average. The shaded band between +1.28 and −1.28 marks the central 80% of the national distribution (10th–90th percentile).

Academics

⇅	%	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
Humanities & Social Sciences	39.0%	521	44% / 56%	8%	$73,626	66	91%
Engineering	18.0%	241	59% / 41%	12%	$125,254	99	95%
Computer Science	14.5%	194	58% / 42%	16%	$201,352	100	100%
Life & Natural Sciences	9.5%	127	31% / 69%	8%	$53,214	13	94%
Business & Economics	9.1%	122	70% / 30%	16%	$148,504	100	98%
Physical Sciences & Math	7.5%	100	54% / 46%	19%	$99,996	93	—
Arts	2.4%	32	31% / 69%	3%	$57,511	22	—

Research R1

⇅	Research $	Rank	Federal	Industry $	PhDs	Rank	PhD students	Postdocs
Physical Sciences & Math	$187M	#16	51%	$9.4M	89	#25	610	262
Life & Natural Sciences	$127M	#44	48%	$0.5M	38	#70	321	149
Engineering	$101M	#52	60%	$3.6M	83	#45	635	195
Humanities & Social Sciences	$79.0M	#17	12%	$2.4M	133	#31	417	108
Computer Science	$31.3M	#26	58%	$2.0M	39	#18	190	11
Agriculture & Food Science	$16.7M	#61	18%	$0.7M	2	#102	9	41
Business & Economics	$11.4M	#58	7%	$0	19	#62	144	10
Education	$2.7M	#155	0%	$0	—	—	—	—
Health Sciences	$0	#441	—	$0	—	—	—	—
Total	$557M	#56	45%	$18.7M	403	#55	2,326	776

Expenditure and funding source: NSF HERD, FY2024. Degrees: IPEDS completions, 2023–24. Students and postdocs: NSF Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates, fall 2024, which covers science, engineering and selected health fields only. An em dash means the source does not report the figure, which is not the same as zero.

Admissions

Uses Common App Yes

Acceptance Rate 4%

Yield (Unbound) 75%

Restrictive Early Action Nov 1

Regular Decision Jan 1

Acceptance Rates

	In-State	Out-of-State	International
Regular Decision	5%	5%	2%

Early Action and Restrictive Early Action applicants are reported at the regular-decision rate.

Acceptance & Yield

Acceptance Yield

Applicants, Admitted & Enrolled

Applicants Admitted Enrolled

IPEDS Admissions survey, 2011–2024. Years a college didn't file leave a gap in the line.

Standardized Tests

Test Policy required

Submitted Test Scores 80%

SAT Range 1490 – 1560

SAT Math Range 760 – 800

SAT RW Range 740 – 780

SAT Composite

25th 75th

SAT Math

25th 75th

SAT Reading & Writing

25th 75th

Submitting a Test Score

Submitted

IPEDS Admissions survey, 2011–2024. Years a college didn't file leave a gap in the line. Test-score submission adds SAT and ACT submitters, capped at 100% — a student can send both.