16/07/2026
HISTORY OF FOUNDING
Having been founded as the College of New Jersey to train presbyterian clergy in 1746, therefore being among the original nine colleges in colonial America, Princeton has produced notable religious, political and scientific alumni. Princeton has the third largest university chapel in the world.
Many Princeton alumni were Founding Fathers of the United States, alongside its sixth President, the clergyman John Witherspoon, who was a signatory to the Declaration of Independence, espousing ideas that animated the revolution such as resistance to tyranny being obedience to God that complemented Lockian notions of the right to topple tyrants, and Calvinist assertions of popular will in state and church leadership in the earthly realm.
IS PRINCETON WORTHY IT?
Princeton University is one of the best universities in the United States of America because of its high ranking in research performance, and the professional success of its students.
About 81 Nobel laureates are Princeton graduates, faculty or researchers, including Woodrow Wilson for peace, the first Princetonian to get a Nobel, and Richard Feynman in physics.
President James Madison, the main author of the U.S. Constitution and its first ten amendments studied at Princeton, completing the curriculum in two years for the three year course. Woodrow Wilson is the other U.S president who graduated from Princeton. President John F. Kennedy enrolled at Princeton for two months before transferring, due to ill health, to Harvard.
FUN FACT ABOUT PRINCETON
There is a misconception that Albert Einstein was a member of the faculty at Princeton. In fact, Einstein was never on the faculty of Princeton but worked as a theoretical researcher at the nearby but independent Institute of Advanced Study (IAS). When Einstein first arrived at IAS, it was still under construction and he was given a temporary office at Fine Hall in the university but was not on the faculty, and never taught students at Princeton. Einstein worked at IAS until his death in 1955, the IAS being led from 1947 to 1966 by J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb.
UNDERGRADUATE FEES
Estimated fees and living expenses at Princeton University for undergraduate courses commencing in the academic year 2026-27 is US$ 94,624 comprising:
- Tuition: US$ 68,140
- Other fees: US$ 314
- Accommodation: US$ 13,010
- Food: US$ 9,110
- Books and personal spending: US$ 4,050
FINANCING YOUR UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES AT PRINCETON
Princeton is one of the most generous universities in the United States. Despite its high fees, about 70 ℅ of undergraduate students get grants from Princeton, and the average grantee student studies for free, with all their tuition, books, living, and housing costs paid by the university. The fees are standardized for all students irrespective of whether they are in-state with homes in New Jersey, or reside in other states, or they are foreign international students. All students, including foreign international students at Princeton have the same access to the university grants based on family income.
The Princeton grants are roughly as follows:
-Students whose families have income of US$ 150,000 or less per year pay ZERO. All the tuition, food, housing, books, and personal expenses are borne by the university.
-Students whose families have income above US$ 150,000 but not more than US$ 250,000 per annum pay NO tuition fees. They pay for some food, housing, books, and personal expenses on a progressive scale based on income with the balance paid by the university.
-Students whose families have income above US$ 250,000 and upto US$ 350,000 or even more per year pay SOME tuition, food, housing, books, and personal costs depending on their circumstances, with many getting significant help from university grants, such as those whose families have several dependent children in college simultaneously.
