Princeton University

In 1746, four Presbyterian ministers who had been expelled from the Synod of Philadelphia gathered in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to establish a new college that would become Princeton University. They were not merely seeking to build a school; they were attempting to create an intellectual fortress against the conservative religious establishment that had rejected their revivalist preaching during the Great Awakening. The founders, including Aaron Burr Sr. and Jonathan Dickinson, had been inspired by the Log College, a humble seminary founded by Reverend William Tennent in Pennsylvania, which had trained ministers through intense, unorthodox methods. Although no legal connection existed between the Log College and the new institution, many of its former students and adherents would go on to fund and shape the early years of the College of New Jersey. The founders chose New Jersey as the location because it lay between Yale College in Connecticut and the College of William & Mary in Virginia, filling a geographic void in colonial higher education. They convinced three other Presbyterians to join them, and despite initial rejection by the Anglican governor Lewis Morrison, acting governor John Hamilton granted a charter on the 22nd of October 1746. The college opened its doors in Elizabeth, holding classes in Dickinson's parsonage, and quickly became the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. The founders aimed for an expansive curriculum that would prepare students for various professions, not solely ministerial work, though the college eventually became the educational and religious capital of Scotch-Irish Presbyterian America.

Revolutionary Capital and Civil War

During the American Revolution, Nassau Hall, the college's first permanent building completed in 1756, became the seat of the Continental Congress and the de facto capital of the United States for four months in 1783. The building had already witnessed the Battle of Princeton in 1777, when British soldiers briefly occupied it before surrendering to General George Washington's forces. After the war, the college suffered from a depreciated endowment and hefty repair bills, yet it endured. In 1795, Samuel Stanhope Smith became the first alumnus to serve as president, but his tenure was marked by a large fire that destroyed the interior of Nassau Hall in 1802, which he blamed on rebellious students. A student riot in 1807, spurred by distrust of educational reforms, led to Smith's resignation. Ashbel Green, elected president in 1812, introduced rigorous disciplinary rules and embraced religion, even establishing the Princeton Theological Seminary next door. The college weathered the American Civil War under James McCosh, who took office in 1868 and lifted the institution out of a low period. McCosh overhauled the curriculum, expanded inquiry into the sciences, and recruited distinguished faculty. He also supervised the addition of buildings in the High Victorian Gothic style and oversaw the creation of extracurricular activities like the Princeton Glee Club and the Triangle Club. In 1879, Princeton conferred its first doctorates on James F. Williamson and William Libby, both members of the Class of 1877. Francis Patton, who became president in 1888, saw enrollment and faculty double, and in 1896, the college officially became a university, changing its name to Princeton University.

Common questions

When was Princeton University founded and by whom?

Princeton University was founded in 1746 by four Presbyterian ministers who had been expelled from the Synod of Philadelphia. These founders included Aaron Burr Sr. and Jonathan Dickinson, who gathered in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to establish the institution known initially as the College of New Jersey.

What significant historical events occurred at Princeton University during the American Revolution?

During the American Revolution, Nassau Hall served as the seat of the Continental Congress and the de facto capital of the United States for four months in 1783. The building also witnessed the Battle of Princeton in 1777 when British soldiers briefly occupied it before surrendering to General George Washington's forces.

When did Princeton University begin admitting women and what were the conditions of that transition?

Princeton University began admitting women in 1969 after trustees voted 24 to 8 in favor of coeducation. The first female students were housed in Pyne Hall, a fairly isolated dormitory, and a security system was added to the building before women deliberately broke it within a day.

How many Nobel laureates are affiliated with Princeton University as of October 2025?

As of October 2025, 81 Nobel laureates have been affiliated with Princeton University as alumni, faculty members, or researchers. The university also hosts 16 Fields Medalists and 17 Turing Award laureates among its affiliated individuals.

What is the Collegiate Gothic style and when was it implemented at Princeton University?

The Collegiate Gothic style is the architectural standard for Princeton University implemented at the end of the 19th century by the Cope and Stewardson firm. This style remained the standard for all new buildings on the Princeton campus until 1960 under the supervision of architects like Ralph Adams Cram.

When did Princeton University eliminate student loans and what is the current financial aid policy?

Princeton University became the first university to eliminate the use of student loans in financial aid in 2001, replacing them with grants. The university now covers all costs for families earning $100,000 a year or less and meets 100% of demonstrated financial need for all admitted students.

Woodrow Wilson and the Preceptorial System

Woodrow Wilson, an alumnus and popular professor, was elected the 13th president of the university in 1902, and he orchestrated significant changes to the curriculum that would shape Princeton's academic identity for the first half of the 20th century. Wilson introduced the preceptorial system in 1905, a then-unique concept in the United States that augmented the standard lecture method with a more personal form in which small groups of students, or precepts, could interact with a single instructor in their field of interest. The changes brought about many new faculty and cemented Princeton's academics, though tightening academic standards caused enrollment to decline severely until 1907. Wilson also reformed the educational system by introducing the senior thesis in 1923 as part of The New Plan of Study, and he strengthened the science program to focus on pure research. However, he failed to win support for the permanent location of the Graduate School and the elimination of the eating clubs, which he proposed replacing with quadrangles, a precursor to the residential college system. Wilson also continued to keep Princeton closed off from accepting Black students, and when an aspiring Black student wrote to him, his secretary replied telling him to attend a university where he would be more welcome. John Grier Hibben became president in 1912 and remained in the post for two decades, allocating all available University resources to the government when the United States entered World War I in 1917. More than 6,000 students served in the armed forces, with 151 dying during the war. Hibben introduced the senior thesis in 1923 and brought about great expansion to the university, with the creation of the School of Architecture in 1919, the School of Engineering in 1921, and the School of Public and International Affairs in 1930. By the end of his presidency, the endowment had increased by 374 percent, the total area of the campus doubled, the faculty experienced impressive growth, and the enrollment doubled.

Desegregation and the Vietnam Era

Princeton explicitly prohibited the admission of women from its founding in 1746 until 1969, and for about a decade, from 1887 to 1897, nearby Evelyn College for Women was largely composed of daughters of professors and sisters of Princeton undergraduates. In 1947, three female members of the library staff enrolled in beginning Russian courses, and in 1961, Princeton admitted its first female graduate student, Sabra Follett Meservey, who would go on to be the first woman to earn a master's degree at Princeton. The student-run Daily Princetonian ran four articles about Meservey in one issue, including an editorial lamenting the potential far-reaching implications of her admission. In 1969, Princeton's trustees voted 24, 8 in favor of coeducation, and 101 female freshman and 70 female transfer students enrolled in September. Those admitted were housed in Pyne Hall, a fairly isolated dormitory, and a security system was added, although the women deliberately broke it within a day. The university also desegregated during this period, stimulated by changes to the New Jersey constitution. Robert Goheen succeeded Harold Dodds and served as president until 1972, and his presidency was characterized as being more liberal than previous presidents. During the 1960s and 1970s, Princeton experienced unprecedented activism, with most of it centered on the Vietnam War. In 1966, the Students for a Democratic Society gained prominence on campus following picketing against a speech by President Lyndon B. Johnson, which gained front-page coverage by the New York Times. A notable point of contention on campus was the Institute for Defense Analyses, and in 1967, SDS members and sympathizers beat the campus R.O.T.C. chapter in a game of touch football. Activism culminated in 1970 with a student, faculty, and staff member strike, so the university could become an institution against expansion of the war. The protests tapered off later that year, with The Daily Princetonian saying that Princeton 1970, 71 was an emotionally burned out university. In 1982, the residential college system was officially established under Goheen's successor William G. Bowen, who would serve until 1988.

The Modern Research Powerhouse

Princeton University is now classified among R1 Doctoral Universities with very high research activity, and it hosts 75 research institutes and centers, including the Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and the NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory stemmed from Project Matterhorn, a top-secret cold war project created in 1951 aimed at achieving controlled nuclear fusion, and today it is an institute for fusion energy research and plasma physics research. The Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, founded in 1955 and located at Princeton's Forrestal Campus since 1968, conducts climate research and modeling. The university's endowment of $37.7 billion, as of 2021, is the largest endowment per student in the United States, with over $4.4 million per student. Princeton's operating budget is over $2 billion per year, with 50% going to academic departments and programs, 33% to administrative and student service departments, 10% to financial aid departments, and 7% to the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. As of October 2025, 81 Nobel laureates, 16 Fields Medalists, and 17 Turing Award laureates have been affiliated with Princeton University as alumni, faculty members, or researchers. The university has been associated with 21 National Medal of Science awardees, 5 Abel Prize awardees, 11 National Humanities Medal recipients, 217 Rhodes Scholars, 137 Marshall Scholars, and 62 Gates Cambridge Scholars. Two U.S. presidents, twelve U.S. Supreme Court justices, and numerous living industry and media tycoons and foreign heads of state are all counted among Princeton's alumni body. Princeton has graduated many members of the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Cabinet, including eight secretaries of state, three secretaries of defense, and two chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Princeton alumni also include 113 athletes who competed in the Olympics, winning 19 gold medals, 24 silver medals, and 23 bronze medals.

Traditions and Cultural Identity

Princeton students partake in a wide variety of campus traditions, both past and present, including the ceremonial bonfire, which takes place on the Cannon Green behind Nassau Hall and is held only if Princeton beats both Harvard University and Yale University at football in the same season. Princeton students abide by the tradition of never exiting the campus through FitzRandolph Gates until one graduates, and according to tradition, anyone who exits campus before their graduation will not graduate. A more controversial tradition is Newman's Day, where some students attempt to drink 24 beers in the 24 hours of April 24, though Paul Newman spoke out against the tradition. One of the biggest traditions celebrated annually are Reunions, which are massive annual gatherings of alumni, and at Reunions, a traditional parade of alumni and their families, known as the P-rade, process through the campus. The university also has several traditions that have faded into the past, including clapper theft, the act of climbing to the top of Nassau Hall to steal the bell clapper, which was permanently removed for safety reasons, and the Nude Olympics, an annual nude and partially nude frolic in Holder Courtyard that used to take place during the first snow of the winter. The university guarantees housing for students for all four years, with more than 98% of undergraduates living on campus, and upperclassmen who no longer live in the college can choose from a variety of options, including joining an eating club. Eating clubs, while not affiliated with the university, are co-ed organizations that serve as social centers, host events, and invite guest speakers, and 68% of upperclassmen are members of a club. Princeton hosts around 500 recognized student organizations, and the American Whig-Cliosophic Society, founded about 1765, is the nation's oldest collegiate political, literary, and debate society. The Daily Princetonian, founded in 1876, is the second oldest college daily student newspaper in the United States, and Princeton's WPRB radio station is the oldest licensed college radio station in the nation.

Financial Aid and Diversity Efforts

Princeton has made significant progress in expanding the diversity of its student body in recent years, and the 2021 admitted freshman class was one of the most diverse in the school's history, with 68% of students identifying as students of color. The university has worked to increase its enrollment of first-generation and low-income students in recent years, and the median family income of Princeton students is $186,100, with 72% of students coming from the top 20% highest-earning families. In 2017, 22% of freshman qualified for federal Pell Grants, above the 16% average for the top 150 schools ranked by the U.S. News & World Report. In 2001, expanding on earlier reforms, Princeton became the first university to eliminate the use of student loans in financial aid, replacing them with grants. In addition, all admissions are need-blind, and financial aid meets 100% of demonstrated financial need. The university does not use academic or athletic merit scholarships, and in September 2022, Princeton announced that it would cover all costs for families earning $100,000 a year or less, with reduced costs for higher income families as well. Kiplinger magazine in 2019 ranked Princeton as the fifth best value school in a combined list comparing private universities, private liberal arts colleges, and public colleges, noting that the average graduating debt was $9,005. For its 2021 rankings, the U.S. News & World Report ranked it second in its category for Best Value Schools. The university also launched the Princeton & Slavery Project in 2017, a large-scale public history and digital humanities investigation into its historical involvement with slavery, which saw the publication of hundreds of primary sources, 80 scholarly essays, a scholarly conference, a series of short plays, and an art project. In April 2018, university trustees announced that they would name two public spaces for James Collins Johnson and Betsey Stockton, enslaved people who lived and worked on Princeton's campus and whose stories were publicized by the project.