The financial aid improvements implemented at Princeton several years ago are continuing to attract an economically diverse group of students to the University: A record 52 percent of this year's freshman class is receiving need-based financial aid.
The goal of the enhancements, which were first instituted in 2000, is to make a Princeton education affordable for students regardless of family financial circumstances. The measures have included replacing loans with grants that need not be repaid, reducing the amount students are expected to contribute from their savings and admitting both U.S. and international students on an entirely "need-blind" basis.
As a result, the percentage of each freshman class on financial aid has steadily climbed, from 38 percent of the class of 2001 -- the last class admitted before the improvements -- to this year's figure of more than half of the class of 2007. Last year, 50 percent of the freshman class received financial aid from the University.
The full story is available in the Weekly Bulletin .
Contact: Eric Quinones(609) 258-3601