Fees to rise only slightly next year; undergraduate costs estimated at $52,600

Undergraduates will pay about 1 percent more for tuition, room, and board next year, under a $1.45 billion operating budget approved by University trustees in January. The budget, up 3.7 percent from this year’s $1.40 billion projected spending, includes $500,000 for additions and improvements to University programs.  

Tuition in 2011–12 will be $37,000 (up 1 percent); room, $6,596 (up 2 percent); and board, $5,473 (same as this year). Overall, the fee increase is the lowest since 1966, when tuition and fees remained flat. Graduate-student tuition, room, and board will rise at the same rates as those for undergraduates. The financial-aid office estimates that undergraduate students spend $3,600 on other fees and personal expenses, so the total cost of a year at Princeton will grow to about $52,669.

Provost Christopher Eisgruber ’83 said in a statement that the University “felt it appropriate to hold down the increase to the fee package” because of families’ continuing economic struggles and the relatively strong performance by the endowment and the Annual Giving campaign.

The new budget’s financial-aid allotment, $110 million, is slightly higher than the projected aid expenditures for 2010­–11. Graduate-student stipends will grow by 3 percent, with total spending on stipends expected to top $96 million.