Popular debates about higher education often focus on affordability and value. Are students running up too much debt as they earn degrees? And do their degrees enable them to succeed after they graduate? Thanks to the generosity of our alumni, Princeton has a terrific story to tell about both affordability and value. In 2001, Princeton pioneered an all-grant, no-loan financial aid program that has made us one of the most affordable places in the country to attend college.
The numbers are extraordinary and bear repeating: 60 percent of today’s student body qualifies for financial aid. For those on aid, the average grant covers 100 percent of the tuition price. As a result, more than 80 percent of recent Princeton seniors graduated with zero debt. For the roughly 16 percent who borrow to support a summer experience or other option, the median debt at graduation is less than $6,000.
Whether students are on financial aid or not, the return on investment from a Princeton education is outstanding. Indeed, Money Magazine, which performs a sophisticated analysis of educational outcomes and alumni success, this year ranked Princeton as the top value-for-money in American higher education. Any set of ratings should be taken with a grain (or shaker) of salt, but I cannot resist mentioning that only one other Ivy League university made the top 10: Harvard, which came in 10th.
At Princeton and its Ivy-plus peers, the problem today is not affordability or value. The problem is scarcity. As anyone who has gone through the admission process recently—or watched a child go through it—knows, there are simply not enough places to accommodate all the talented students who would benefit from a first-rate education.
Last year, Princeton turned down nearly 94 percent of the students who applied—more than 29,000 individuals. The vast majority of these applicants were superb, and many of them would have flourished here.
I love the students on our campus. They are splendid and inspiring young people. But I know that we are turning down many more students whom I would be thrilled to have at Princeton.
That is why I am so pleased by the trustees’ decision to authorize fundraising to support increasing the size of the entering class by 125 students. This 10 percent increase— the same expansion we undertook when we built Whitman College a decade ago—would allow us to accept more students from all backgrounds. It would enable us, for example, to continue increasing the socioeconomic diversity of our student body, while also adding to the wide variety of other students, including highly qualified alumni children, who contribute so substantially to Princeton today.
When I talk with alumni about expansion, most share my enthusiasm: they want more students to have the transformative experience that meant so much to them. They also want to be assured, however, that Princeton maintains its distinctive sense of community. How big can Princeton get, they ask, before it ceases to be Princeton?
I share that love of Princeton’s unique character, and I expect there is a limit, somewhere, beyond which Princeton should not grow. I am confident, however, that we can add 125 students per class without getting anywhere close to that limit. Our last expansion proved that, if we grow carefully, we can maintain and even strengthen the bonds that tie Princetonians together. I see that strength vividly in our youngest and largest classes, whose vibrant connections to one another and this place have them “clearing the tracks” to return to Reunions in numbers that are awesome even by the standards of Old Nassau.
A new residential college will be essential to our next expansion, as it was to our last one. I hope we will be able to construct two new residential colleges rather than only one. By building two, we would not only provide the beds needed to house additional students, but also enable the University to take some existing housing offline for renovation. In addition, the new colleges would give us opportunities to consider arrangements and innovations that would further improve the Princeton experience.
The most likely site for the new colleges would be south of Poe and Pardee fields—a choice that would, as happened with Whitman College, require us to relocate athletic facilities that currently support outdoor tennis, softball, and soccer. We hope these new facilities will benefit from enhancements that would be difficult to achieve in their current locations.
As I contemplate Princeton’s next expansion, I am often reminded that growth is itself one of the traditions that define and enliven our alma mater. In our early days, when we were the College of New Jersey, my predecessor John Witherspoon, his student James Madison, and the entire college were collected together in Nassau Hall. We have grown with the country and the world ever since, creating a beautiful, cherished campus while preserving a genuine intimacy rare in higher education. I look forward to working with all of you to help Princeton extend to more young people the opportunities that mattered so much in our own lives, and the lives of those who preceded us.
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4 Responses
Andrew Hook *60
6 Years AgoPrinceton’s Scottish Origins
President Eisgruber ’83 refers in passing (President’s Page, Nov. 8) to his predecessor John Witherspoon, James Madison 1771 (Witherspoon’s prize pupil), and Nassau Hall.
I’m not sure that all Princetonians recognize that Witherspoon was a Scottish Presbyterian minister persuaded to leave his parish in Paisley, Scotland, to take up the presidency of the College of New Jersey in 1768. After the early deaths of the previous five presidents, it was Witherspoon alone who over the following 26 years transformed the struggling college into a major institution of American higher education. Even fewer of us, I suspect, realize that Nassau Hall itself was largely built with Scottish money.
In 1753–54, the Presbyterian Synod of New York, desperate for funds to establish its new college, dispatched Gilbert Tennant and Samuel Davies (the College’s fourth president) to the U.K. in search of financial help. In Scotland they found success.
On May 31, 1754, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland resolved that “a general collection” should be made “at all the church-doors in Scotland” on behalf of the College of New Jersey. As a result, the very substantial sum of £3200 was raised, and that money largely paid for the building of Nassau Hall.
Some years ago at a reunion dinner in London, I raised the issue of the possible commemoration of Princeton’s Scottish heritage with President Tilghman. Since then the statue of Witherspoon has appeared on campus, but nothing else has happened. It would be appropriate to celebrate Princeton’s Scottish origins by establishing an annual Witherspoon lecture or seminar — with an element of Scottish focus, however general, in its form.
Norman Ravitch *62
7 Years AgoWhat does it mean to say...
What does it mean to say Princeton is "the top value for money" in American higher education? No problem admitting that Princeton has arguably among the best faculty, the best resources, the best environment, and the best reputation among universities in this country, along with a handful of others of course. But where you "get your money's worth" depends not on these factors alone but also on the students concerned. With a reasonably good library, a few good and conscientious professors, some good student peers, and a reasonably pleasant surroundings, both on and off campus, any student wanting to learn well can do so. He doesn't have to spend hundreds of thousands of his family's worth or in student loans to get such an education today, although granted that many schools have abused the student loan programs to raise fees and costs beyond any justification except for greed.
Of course if you define "value for money" in terms of making contacts useful for future career desires, you may well choose to spend like a drunken sailor to get your higher education -- but I would not want you to be very proud of such a choice. Prestige is not the same as education. There are plenty of ordinary, mediocre, and in some cases scandalously unpalatable graduates of premier institutions.
Andrew Hook *60
6 Years AgoThe Nassau Hall-Scottish Funding Connection
Published online Jan. 4, 2018
President Eisgruber ’83 refers in passing (President’s Page, Nov. 8) to his predecessor John Witherspoon, James Madison 1771 (Witherspoon’s prize pupil), and Nassau Hall.
I’m not sure that all Princetonians recognize that Witherspoon was a Scottish Presbyterian minister persuaded to leave his parish in Paisley, Scotland, to take up the presidency of the College of New Jersey in 1768. After the early deaths of the previous five presidents, it was Witherspoon alone who over the following 26 years transformed the struggling college into a major institution of American higher education. However, even fewer of us, I suspect, realize that Nassau Hall itself was largely built with Scottish money.
In 1753-54, the Presbyterian Synod of New York, desperate for funds to establish its new college, dispatched Gilbert Tennant and Samuel Davies (the College’s fourth president) to the U.K. in search of financial help. In Scotland they found success.
On May 31, 1754, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland resolved that “a general collection” should be made “at all the church-doors in Scotland” on behalf of the College of New Jersey. As a result, the very substantial sum of £3200 was raised, and that money largely paid for the building of Nassau Hall.
Some years ago at a reunion dinner in London, I raised the issue of the possible commemoration of Princeton’s Scottish heritage with President Tilghman — an idea with which she seemed to be sympathetic. Since then the statue of Witherspoon has appeared on campus, but nothing else has happened. I’d like to suggest that it would be entirely appropriate to celebrate Princeton’s Scottish origins by establishing an annual Witherspoon lecture or seminar — with an element of Scottish focus, however general, in its form.
Norman Ravitch *62
6 Years AgoMore power to the Scots! ...
More power to the Scots! This tiny people living in a very poor land helped to create the British Empire in all its glory. They also knew how to temper their unfortunate Calvinism with learning and scholarship so that they produced not only Calvinist preachers but geniuses like David Hume who equal is very hard to find. They also roused the English people to oppose the continental absolutism of Charles I and less directly roused those living in the American colonies to throw off the yoke of a corrupt and viciously immoral British monarchy. If only their whiskey were as good as Kentucky Bourbon!
Norman Ravitch, *62