Princeton tuition in 2010 and 1910

Click here to view the full image of Francis Nimick's fall 1910 tuition bill.

Each January, Princeton's trustees meet to approve the University's operating budget, including tuition and fees for the coming academic year. According to a Jan. 25 University news release, the total cost of a year at Princeton will be $48,580 in 2010-11.

This announcement reminded us of a recent piece of mail that David Nimick ’46 sent to PAW with the simple message that "things were different 100 years ago!" Attached was a copy of the tuition bill that his father, Francis, Class of 1913, received in August 2010, for the fall semester of his sophomore year. Tuition, room, board, and fees added up to a grand total of $271.25. The full year -- less than $550 -- converts to about $12,000 in today's dollars.

Incidentally, the elder Nimick knew something about tuition bills: Five of his sons attended Princeton between 1935 and 1950.