Princeton University · New Jersey
Princeton scholarships and merit aid
Princeton awards zero merit scholarships — all financial aid is grants based solely on need, with no loans. Families with income below $150,000 pay zero for tuition, room, board, and fees. Families below $250,000 pay no tuition. The average grant for aided students exceeds $76,000.
The short answer
Is Princeton worth a closer look?
We did not find a simple published award list to show for Princeton. Read our full reasoning before spending more time here.
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Rules that could change the answer
These are the rules we would flag for your family. Each comes from Princeton's published information.
- Outside awardsGrant-first displacement = outside wins can pay the school
Princeton reduces institutional grant before any other aid line when an outside award arrives. A $5,000 community-foundation win can leave the family bill unchanged.
What families often miss
Princeton now covers full cost of attendance (tuition, room, board, fees) for families with income below $150,000. Families below $250,000 pay no tuition. Even families earning $250,000-$350,000+ may receive grant aid depending on assets and family size. Not filing FAFSA and CSS Profile guarantees full-price payment.
Princeton's aid is already all-grant (no loans). Outside scholarships reduce the Princeton grant dollar-for-dollar; they do not reduce the family's expected contribution. A $10,000 outside scholarship means Princeton gives $10,000 less, not that the family pays $10,000 less.
See costs and school data
Who this school may work for
Families who need to understand that Princeton is not a merit-optimization target. Princeton has the cleanest zero-merit policy among elite schools: the CDS reports exactly 0% of freshmen receiving non-need institutional merit aid. However, Princeton's need-based generosity is arguably the best in the country: families below $150,000 pay nothing at all, and families up to $350,000+ may still receive significant grant aid.
- Tuition & fees
- Housing & food
- Books
- Personal
First-year/sophomore standard budget; variable transportation and separate health insurance excluded.
Cost and graduation facts
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Princeton, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
| Family income | Average net price paid |
|---|---|
| $0–$30,000 | $41 |
| $30,001–$48,000 | $352 |
| $48,001–$75,000 | $1,217 |
| $75,001–$110,000 | $4,478 |
| $110,001+ | $36,094 |
| All income levels (average) | $6,128 |
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
- Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
- $62,688
- Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
- $6,128
That works out to roughly a 93% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $84,040 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).
Outcomes for students who enrolled here
- Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
- 98%
- First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
- 98%
- Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
- $10,320 (~$109/mo on a 10-yr plan)
- Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
- $110,066
- Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
- 22%
- Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
- 2%
See other scholarships and cost examples
If your student brings another scholarship
Outside scholarships reduce the Princeton grant dollar-for-dollar. Students may recover reduced funds for a one-time computer purchase.
Outside scholarships are considered financial assistance and reduce the Princeton grant dollar-for-dollar after external funds are accounted for. Because Princeton's aid is already all-grant with no loans, there is no self-help component to replace first. Students may request to use a portion of recovered funds toward a one-time computer purchase, up to $3,500 in hardware (this benefit is forfeited if outside scholarships fully replace the Princeton grant). Outside funding must be reported via the Outside Scholarship Reporting Form in the My Financial Aid portal; failure to disclose may result in disciplinary action.
More school data
From the Princeton Common Data Set 2024-2025:
Princeton merit aid FAQ
Does Princeton offer any merit scholarships?
None. Princeton's policy is explicit: 'Financial aid is awarded solely based on need; there are no merit scholarships.' The CDS confirms 0% of freshmen received non-need institutional merit aid. This is the cleanest zero-merit policy among elite universities.
What does Princeton actually cost for a middle-class family?
Families with income below $150,000 (typical assets) pay zero: Princeton covers tuition, room, board, and fees entirely with grants. Families below $250,000 pay no tuition. Families earning $250,000-$350,000+ may still receive grant aid. The average grant for aided students exceeds $76,000 per year. About 62% of students receive financial aid.
Should my family still file FAFSA and CSS Profile even if we think we earn too much?
Yes. Princeton uses Institutional Methodology, which can differ substantially from federal methodology. The income thresholds ($150,000 for zero cost, $250,000 for no tuition) are based on 'typical assets.' Princeton requires FAFSA, CSS Profile, and tax returns. Skipping these forms guarantees you pay the full $90,730.
See sources and other schools
How Princeton compares
- 19 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use grant-first displacement.
Princeton is in the small minority (19 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
- Grant-first displacement is the rarest published policy in our dataset.
It also produces the worst family-dollar outcome on outside scholarships. Princeton sits in this small minority, so treat outside-award strategy here as conservatively as you would at a school with no published policy at all.
Sources used on this page
Every claim is checked against Princeton’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
- Policy pagePrinceton stacking policy
- Common Data SetPrinceton Common Data Set
- Cost of attendancePrinceton cost-of-attendance worksheet
Compare with similar schools
- Drew merit aid. New Jersey private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
- Stevens merit aid. New Jersey private school — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
- NJIT merit aid. New Jersey public university — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
- Rowan merit aid. New Jersey public university — compare automatic merit, amounts, and stacking.
Keep exploring Princeton merit aid
- Princeton scholarship stacking. Whether outside awards land as upside or quietly displace institutional aid.
- Does Princeton displace outside scholarships?. The dollar math on a $5,000 outside award, plus peer schools that handle it differently.