Princeton University

Presbyterian founders developed the College of New Jersey amid the Great Awakening. Acting Governor John Hamilton granted its charter on October 22, 1746, the date celebrated as its founding. The charter welcomed students across religious denominations.⁠[3][4]

About eight to ten students began lessons at the home of first president Jonathan Dickinson. Initially based in Elizabeth, the college moved to Newark later in 1747.⁠[3][4]

Completion of Nassau Hall enabled the move to Princeton. The Continental Congress subsequently met there from June to November 1783.⁠[4]

The institution adopted the name Princeton University. Its Graduate School followed in 1900.⁠[4]

President Woodrow Wilson introduced preceptorials. Small-group discussion, seminars and independent work remain central to undergraduate instruction.⁠[4][2]

Architecture was established in 1919, engineering in 1921, and public and international affairs in 1930.⁠[4]

James Everett Ward and Arthur Jewell Wilson Jr., admitted through the Navy V-12 program in 1945, became Princeton’s first African American graduates.⁠[4]

Project Matterhorn began fusion research at the new Forrestal Campus. It became the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in 1961.⁠[4]

Trustees approved undergraduate coeducation. Women first received undergraduate degrees in 1970, following Princeton’s first Ph.D. awarded to a woman in 1964.⁠[4]

The residential college system began in 1982 and expanded to a four-year system in 2007. Current policy guarantees undergraduate housing for four years.⁠[4][2]

Princeton replaced loans in its aid packages with grants, a policy retained in its 2026–27 undergraduate guidance.⁠[4][2]

Christopher L. Eisgruber became Princeton’s twentieth president in 2013. The October 2026 leadership directory continued to list him as president and Jennifer Rexford as provost.⁠[1][5]

The Princeton and Slavery Project documented links between slavery and early presidents, founding trustees and donors, including a 1766 auction outside the president’s house. Researchers found no evidence that the university institutionally owned enslaved people or that students brought them to campus; these limits are distinct from the documented personal and financial ties.⁠[6]

The reinstated transfer program initially offered admission to 13 students, encouraging applicants from low-income, military and community-college backgrounds.⁠[4]

Trustees approved a $3.407 billion operating budget, up 2.1%, and $342 million in undergraduate aid, up 5.4%. Endowment payouts were projected to fund 65% of the net operating budget. Princeton planned cost savings amid federal research cuts, lower long-term return assumptions and higher health-benefit costs.⁠[7]

PRINCO president Vincent Tuohey ended its voluntary blanket divestment from publicly traded oil and gas companies while retaining trustee-mandated divestment from thermal coal and tar sands. He set a 2046 net-zero endowment goal and established an expert measurement committee; this remains a target, not an achieved outcome.⁠[8]

Economics associate professor Ellora Derenoncourt and history associate professor Elizabeth Ellis received 2026 MacArthur Fellowships for work on economic inequality and Native American history. Doctoral alumnus Kaiyu Guan also received a fellowship while serving at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.⁠[9]

Undergraduates pursue the A.B. or B.S.E. The A.B. spans humanities, natural sciences and social sciences; engineering majors include chemical and biological, civil and environmental, computer science, electrical and computer, mechanical and aerospace, and operations research and financial engineering. Upper-level independent work and interdisciplinary minors complement the majors.⁠[2]

The facts page accessed in October 2026 listed 5,825 undergraduates, 3,365 graduate students, 1,366 faculty including visiting and part-time appointments, and seven residential colleges. Tuition for 2026–27 was $68,140; 71% of the Class of 2030 received aid. Princeton says most families earning up to $150,000 receive coverage for tuition, housing, food, books and personal expenses, subject to individual financial assessment.⁠[10]

Princeton University: Official website: https://www.princeton.edu/ (opens in a new window).⁠[11]

Princeton X: Official website: https://twitter.com/princeton (opens in a new window).⁠[11]

Princeton LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Official website: https://www.linkedin.com/school/157313/ (opens in a new window).⁠[11]

Princeton YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Official website: https://www.youtube.com/princeton (opens in a new window).⁠[11]