Eisgruber Discusses Statements, Buildings, Aid, and Endowment in Annual Letter

In his 2025 State of the University letter, President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 highlighted Princeton’s ongoing expansion and renovation, its investment in student financial aid, and the role that the University endowment plays in funding teaching and scholarship. He also explained his views on institutional speech and shared data on how undergraduates view Princeton’s campus climate. Here are four takeaways from the Jan. 29 letter:

1. Don’t expect Eisgruber to issue statements that will rile politicians and pundits — but op-eds are still on the table. In the letter, he noted that he’s made statements “only rarely in the past” and expects to do it even less in the future, a reflection of a more restrained approach to institutional speech in a fraught political environment. “At the same time, I will continue to speak up vigorously and often for the values of this University, including scholarly excellence, truth-seeking research, academic freedom, free speech, diversity and inclusion, and the importance of a liberal arts education that prepares students not only for their careers but for lives of service and citizenship,” he wrote, noting that speeches, essays, op-eds, and “scholarly channels” are his preferred paths for communicating those views.

2. Princeton undergrads are pretty happy, based on data from senior surveys collected in the past four years, with 91% of the Class of ’24 rating their educational experience as excellent or good. But there are disparities across demographic groups that “show where we have opportunities to improve what we do,” Eisgruber wrote in a section of the letter explaining the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Among the points he highlighted from the data were groups of students who reported concern about being judged unfairly for expressing their opinions, including Jewish and Muslim students and those who identify their political views as “extremely conservative.” “These data matter because we want all students to thrive at Princeton and feel that they belong here,” Eisgruber wrote. “We also believe that ours must be a community where all members can speak their mind and where they engage in civil and respectful dialogue, even on — indeed, especially on — difficult topics.”

3. The president defended endowment spending in the wake of “worrisome taxation proposals that result partly from misunderstandings of what endowments do.” Those who think of the endowment as a savings account are missing the mark, Eisgruber wrote: “It is more like a retirement annuity that must provide income every year for the remainder of the owner’s life,” or in the case of a university, the rest of its existence, stretching across centuries. At Princeton, the endowment pay-out rate is more than 5% per year; it funded 57% of the University’s annual budget in 2023-24, with direct benefit to students. In this year’s freshman class, Eisgruber wrote, 71% of students receive Princeton’s no-loan financial aid, with the average grant totaling $73,000.

4. Get ready for ribbon cutting. As construction fences come down, Princeton will be opening a string of major projects that were funded through the Venture Forward campaign, including the new Princeton University Art Museum and the Environmental Studies and School of Engineering and Applied Science complex on Ivy Lane. The Class of 1986 Fitness and Wellness Center and Frist Health Center opened in the current academic year. Eisgruber also announced that the University will be updating its campus plan.