
President Christopher L. Eisgruber welcomed incoming students to campus during the annual Opening Exercises ceremony, sharing his hopes that Princeton’s commitment to the liberal arts will provide them with a “transcendent education.”
“Liberal arts education includes a commitment to the idea that learning and research are among the activities that enable the human spirit to soar,” Eisgruber told the entering transfer students and members of the Class of 2028. He said that “education is not just for success, or for citizenship, it is also valuable for its own sake.”
This issue of the Capital Connector highlights the return of students and several undergraduate prizes for New Jersey students, a wrap-up of summer programming that served students from New Jersey and beyond, a look at the Princeton University Library collaboration to bring Freedom Reads to New Jersey, and visits from several New Jersey legislators.
Students Return to Campus

Princeton welcomes the Class of 2028
Princeton welcomed 1,411 first-time, first-year students in the Class of 2028. The first-year Class of 2028 includes 16.3% who are first-generation college students. Thirty-six transfer students also joined the undergraduate class from community colleges, such as Mercer County Community College and Rowan College at Burlington County. Twenty-three of those students have served in the U.S. military.
In the Class of 2028, 71.5% of students qualify for financial aid and 21.7% of the class are lower-income students eligible for federal Pell Grants. Princeton’s no-loan policy replaces student loans with grant aid that students do not pay back — this makes it possible to graduate with little to no debt. Most families with incomes up to $100,000 a year pay nothing for their student to attend Princeton. Read more about the Class of 2028 here.

Undergraduate prizes awarded to New Jersey students for academic achievement
Akshat Aqarwal of Princeton, NJ and Braeden Carroll of Kinnelon, NJ share the George B. Wood Legacy Sophomore Prize. The prize is awarded each year to members of the junior class in recognition of exceptional academic achievement during their sophomore year.
Caroline Zhao of Westfield, NJ was awarded the George B. Wood Legacy Junior Prize for exceptional academic achievement during their junior year. Read more about the students here.
Access and Opportunity

Collaboration brings the first Freedom Library to New Jersey
In May, Princeton University Library collaborated with Freedom Reads and Commissioner Victoria L. Kuhn from the New Jersey Department of Corrections to open the first Freedom Library in New Jersey, at Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in Chesterfield, NJ. Read more here.

A summer of support and success for high school, public college, first-generation, lower-income and transfer students
Approximately 400 high school, public college, first-generation, lower-income and transfer students will start this academic year with a boost following a summer spent with Princeton’s Emma Bloomberg Center for Access & Opportunity. This year marked the center’s largest summer yet, with distinct programs serving high school students from the local area and across the country, incoming Princeton first-years, and students from community colleges and public universities in New Jersey. Read more here.
More about the programs that support New Jersey students:
Aspiring Scholars and Professionals Program
The Aspiring Scholars and Professionals (ASAP) program welcomed 19 undergraduates from New Jersey colleges and universities to participate in research and professional internships with Princeton faculty and staff mentors. The eight-week program aims to prepare students interested in the humanities, social sciences, communications and education for possible careers in higher education.
The Transfer Scholars Initiative is part of the University’s growing partnerships with New Jersey community colleges and is among new transfer programs focused solely on supporting non-Princeton students. The program includes writing seminars, science and engineering classes, college counseling and transfer success programs, and mentorship from Princeton faculty, staff and undergraduate course fellows. Participants earn a Princeton transcript with two credit-bearing courses eligible to transfer to their community college and eventual four-year transfer destination.
This year’s participants came from Camden County Community College, Hudson County Community College, Middlesex College, Mercer County Community College, Raritan Valley Community College, Rowan College of South Jersey and Union College of Union County.
Princeton University Preparatory Program
The Princeton Preparatory Summer Institute is an integral part of the year-round college preparatory program for local high school students from Ewing, Hamilton, Lawrence Township, Princeton and Trenton. The tuition-free program is aimed at nurturing both the educational and personal development of its students, who come from lower-income backgrounds and will be among the first in their families to attend college.
Campus Visits

Assemblywoman Linda Carter visits campus to learn about opportunity and access at Princeton
Chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, Assemblywoman Linda Carter, visited campus to learn about the University's groundbreaking efforts to expand access to and opportunities in higher education at Princeton and beyond through the Emma Bloomberg Center and the Program for Community College Engagement.
Local legislative delegation visits campus
Princeton University's local delegation of legislators from the 14, 15, and 16 legislative districts met with University leadership to learn more about University priorities, the historical capital plan and sustainability projects, and University programs that support access and opportunity. From left to right: David Reiner, Maura Fennessy, Assemblyman Anthony Verrelli, Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, Assemblywoman Tennille McCoy, Senator Andrew Zwicker, Assemblywoman Mitchelle Drulis.
