Princeton University

Campus Life

Housing and Dining

The Residential Colleges

Freshmen and sophomores live in one of the University’s five residential colleges: Butler, Forbes, Mathey, Rockefeller, or Wilson. Beginning in 2007–08, when Whitman College opens, upperclass students also will have the option of living in four-year residential colleges.

More than 97 percent of Princeton undergraduates live on campus. Approximately 75 percent of juniors and seniors take their meals at one of 10 private, coed eating clubs.

Other juniors and seniors cook their own meals in dormitory kitchens, dine in the residential colleges, join a cooperative, or make other arrangements. They may also dine at the Frist Campus Center. Princeton’s Center for Jewish Life houses the University’s kosher dining facility.

Housing for Enrolled Graduate Students

Only enrolled graduate students are eligible for residence in the Graduate College and the Annexes. The Graduate College houses approximately 420 students. Cooking is not permitted in Graduate College or Annex rooms. Residents are required to participate in one of seven meal plans.

The Graduate College Annexes are converted homes that have both single and double rooms. Residents of the Graduate College Annexes are not required to eat at the Graduate College, but they may choose to participate in one of the seven meal plans. There are kitchens in all of the Annex houses.

Campus Centers

• Frist Campus Center is a place where the entire campus community—students, faculty, staff, and alumni—as well as visitors meet and interact, engaging in a variety of programs, events, and services that enrich campus life and the Princeton experience.

• The Center for Jewish Life (CJL) provides cultural, social, religious, and informal educational activities of interest to Jewish students and the overall University community.

• The International Center provides a setting in which international students and visiting scholars are introduced to American life and where their diverse cultural perspectives are made available to the Princeton community.

• The Carl A. Fields Center for Equality and Cultural Understanding focuses on exploring issues of diversity, equity, and cultural pluralism.

• Collaborating with others, the Women’s Center offers educational, cultural, and social programs for undergraduate and graduate students, staff, and faculty on campus.

• Princeton’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Center works to create a safe and supportive environment by providing educational opportunities and advocating for the needs and concerns of LGBT students.

Athletics

More than half of all undergraduates, about 2,300, participate in intercollegiate athletic competition at Princeton. The University offers 38 varsity sports and nearly 40 club teams.

Varsity Sports. Each year more than 1,000 students participate in intercollegiate varsity and junior varsity sports. Princeton teams have dominated the Ivy League for the past two decades, routinely winning the league’s unofficial all-sports championship. Since 2000, 24 different teams at Princeton have won at least one league championship.

The Princeton women’s soccer team and men’s water polo teams both advanced to the NCAA Final Four in the 2004–05 academic year. Princeton won Ivy League championships in men’s and women’s golf, women’s volleyball, women’s soccer, and softball. Princeton’s Class of 2005 combined to win 36 Ivy titles, the most in the league.

Campus Recreation Program. Nearly 600 teams are active in the intramural sports program, which schedules competition among residential colleges, eating clubs, independent groups, and faculty and staff. Students can participate in a variety of club sports, most of which compete intercollegiately. Princeton’s physical education program offers athletic instruction in nine core areas.

Athletic Facilities

• Jadwin Gymnasium provides 250,000 square feet of indoor space for intercollegiate sports in addition to a practice area for outdoor field sports.

• Dillon Gymnasium has facilities for recreational sports. At the Stephens Fitness Center in Dillon, students can pursue personal health goals with trained supervision.

• DeNunzio Pool provides complete facilities for competitive swimming and diving.

• Princeton Stadium, which is home to Tiger football, has a seating capacity of 27,800.

• Weaver Track and Field Stadium has an eight-lane Olympic track, and has hosted professional events.

• The recently renovated Shea Rowing Center is home to the crew program.

• Baker Rink, built in 1923, houses hockey and ice skating.

• Outdoor athletic facilities include more than two dozen tennis courts, an 18-hole golf course, and more than 50 acres of fields for baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse, and rugby, as well as many intramural sports.

• The Class of 1952 Stadium is a lighted, artificial-surface facility that accommodates approximately 4,000 spectators for lacrosse and field hockey.

Student Activities

Student Organizations

Student organizations are created and run by students with support from the University through the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students. More than 200 such groups make it easy for students to engage their interests outside the classroom.

ROTC

Two Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs are open to men and women at Princeton. In both (Army, Air Force), participants may compete for scholarships described in the Undergraduate Financial Aid Information and Application Instructions booklet. Participants in either program engage in noncredit courses and activities that, if successfully completed, lead to a commission as an officer.

Performing Arts

• 185 Nassau Street houses the programs in creative writing, theater and dance, and visual arts, which host art shows, theatrical productions, and poetry and fiction readings.

• McCarter Theatre offers drama, music, dance, film, and events ranging from acrobatics to mime. The theater also hosts the annual show presented by student members of the Triangle Club.

• Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall hosts musical, dramatic, and other performances, most open to the public, and most for a fee.

• Taplin Auditorium in Fine Hall hosts campus musical groups throughout the year, which are sponsored by the Friends of Princeton Music.

• Theatre Intime, a student-run facility, schedules dramatic productions throughout the year at Murray-Dodge Hall.

• The Department of Music sponsors free student concerts, Music-at-Noon, in the Woolworth Center.

Seniors’ Post-Graduation Plans

There were 1,123 graduates in the Class of 2005. Over 99 percent of the class members (1,115 students) responded to the annual Career Plans Survey in May, conducted by the Office of Career Services.

Sixty-nine percent of the respondents planned to enter the workforce in the coming year. Approximately 17.6 percent of those planning employment accepted positions in extended internships that involve teaching, legal research, health and clinical research, scientific research, and/or service in domestic and international settings for a period of one to two years.

Of the 24 percent who planned to pursue further education, 27.3 percent accepted admission into doctoral programs, and 21.2 percent enrolled in master’s programs; 15.9 percent accepted admission into medical school and 19.7 percent into law school. An additional 18 students were accepted into graduate and professional programs but chose to defer enrollment for at least one year to pursue internships, fellowships, and employment.

The remaining 7 percent of the class followed other pursuits, including military service, professional sports, and travel.

Alumni

Princeton alumni contribute extensively to the life of the campus, with approximately 20,000 returning annually for Reunions.

There are 79,500 living Princeton alumni, including 19,400 women and 21,800 Graduate School alumni. Princeton graduates live in all 50 states and 117 countries.

In a typical year, some 6,000 to 8,000 volunteers work for Princeton in class and regional association activities, fund-raising, programs in the local schools, a career network and internship program, and community service. Many serve in University advisory and leadership roles. Currently, there are 165 Princeton regional associations throughout the world.