by our College Data Analytics TeamThis overview covers the essential stats on Princeton University, including its rankings, majors, diversity, and more.
College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.
Princeton University was awarded 112 badges in the 2026 rankings.
College Factual ranked Princeton as #59 out of 3,449 colleges and universities in the country on its 2026 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation.
Within the state, Princeton holds the #1 spot on the Best Colleges in New Jersey ranking.
Princeton University has a very low acceptance rate of 5%, making it one of the most selective out of all the colleges and universities in the nation. It’s probably a good idea to apply to other schools in addition to Princeton just in case you don’t make the cut.
About 56% of students accepted to Princeton submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 740 and 780. Math scores were between 770 and 800.
Princeton received ACT scores from 21% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 34 and 35.
The student to faculty ratio at Princeton is an impressive 5 to 1. That’s quite good when you compare it to the national average of 15 to 1. This is a good sign that students at the school will have more opportunities for one-on-one interactions with their professors.
In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Princeton University is 85%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 97% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Princeton University enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at Princeton for first-time, full-time students is 97%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Princeton University.
During the most recent academic year, there were 5,579 undergraduates at Princeton.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Princeton University.
The typical net cost at Princeton is $16,772. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.### Net Price by Income Group for Princeton
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2,518 | $4,682 | $7,652 | $13,849 | $39,943 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Princeton, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
It’s not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Princeton, approximately 2% of students took out student loans averaging $6,140 a year. That adds up to $24,560 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 1.5%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for Princeton University.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University make about $110,066 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. That’s great news for Princeton University students since it is 124% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at Princeton University make the most money.
Princeton University is a private not-for-profit institution found in Princeton, New Jersey. Princeton is a great location for students who prefer city over country life. Get more details about the location of Princeton University.
Contact information for Princeton University are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 1 Nassau Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544-0070 |
| Phone: | 6092583000 |
| Website: | www.princeton.edu |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/PrincetonU |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/princeton |
In the most recent reporting year, students from 17 majors graduated from Princeton University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 2,382 | NA |
| Computer Science | 300 | NA |
| Public Policy | 227 | $60,713 |
| Economics | 164 | $81,961 |
| Electrical Engineering | 128 | NA |
| Operations Research | 105 | NA |
| Chemistry | 100 | NA |
| History | 96 | $50,775 |
| Biochemistry & Biophysics | 95 | NA |
| Political Science & Government | 95 | $37,831 |
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References