Princeton University has announced a change to its financial aid policy. Prior to the newly announced policy, Princeton students from families that earned a collective $65,000 per year were eligible to receive financial aid covering the entire cost of a Princeton education. With inflation skyrocketing, Princeton has now announced that students from families that earn a collective $100,000 per year are now eligible to receive financial aid covering the entirety of a Princeton education. Students will also no longer be required to contribute $3,500 to to their financial aid packages — meaning they won’t be required to work on campus and can thus choose to participate in the activities they so wish just like students who are not receiving financial aid.

As Drew Somerville reports for The Daily Princetonian in a piece entitled “Princeton to eliminate student contribution, cover entire cost for families making up to $100K,” “According to Princeton Alumni Weekly (PAW), the 2021–22 giving cycle was the most generous in Princeton’s history, with $81.8 million received from alumni. [Dean of Admission Karen] Richardson told the ‘Prince’ that ‘tremendous returns from the endowment’ are also responsible for this expansion. She pointed out that the University has made other changes in policies in recent history to ‘make a Princeton education accessible to more students,’ including ‘the graduate stipend major increase’ and ‘increasing the size of the undergraduate student body.’ Richardson said that she expects the process of applying for aid to become ‘more transparent’ due to the Financial Aid Estimator, which provides ‘readily available information’ about aid packages.”

We commend Princeton, a school that historically tops the charts when it comes to alumni giving, for not only expanding its financial aid policy but for not requiring students receiving financial aid to work. Remember how Felicity used to have to work at the coffee shop in The WB‘s Felicity? Or how Kimberly had to do the same in HBO Max’s The Sex Lives of College Girls? Or maybe you remember students working at the prep school in School Ties if you go even further back in cinematic history? While such campus jobs can be great for students, they also can potentially create the feeling that students receiving financial aid are second-class citizens who don’t have the freedom to get involved in all the things they want to take advantage of while at Princeton. It’s why we especially commend the institution for nixing the student contribution portion in this latest change to the school’s financial aid policy.