Princeton admits Class of 2026, withholds admissions statistics in break from peer institutions

For the first time in recent history, Princeton has made the decision to not release statistics for accepted students for the incoming Class of 2026 — for both regular and early admissions cycles.

An official announcement on the University admissions website dated March 30 stated, “We have now made the decision not to release admission data during the early action, regular decision and transfer admission cycles.”

The University will not publish any information regarding the incoming accepted students. Instead, it will publish an announcement regarding students who matriculate at the University later in 2022.

Other universities in the Ivy League, such as Brown and Harvard have released regular decision statistics, while Yale and Dartmouth have released statistics for early action.

The Harvard Crimson reported a record-low 3.19 percent of applicants accepted this cycle. The Brown Daily Herald reported a record-low 5 percent admission rate.

In 2021, Princeton recorded a historical admission rate — 3.98 percent — comparable to its peer institutions. It also released a demographic breakdown of the incoming admitted class, including SAT scores, geographic overview, and total applicants.

This year, Princeton has declined to publish any admissions statistics, citing “data points such as overall admission rates and average SAT scores shouldn’t influence a prospective student’s decision about whether to apply to Princeton.”

“We know this information raises the anxiety level of prospective students and their families and, unfortunately, may discourage some prospective students from applying,” read the announcement.

David Chau ’26, a student who was admitted early to Princeton, said in a message to The Daily Princetonian that he was “quite surprised when they made the decision” to not report admissions statistics.

When asked to comment on the admissions statistics, the Office of Communications reiterated that it is “not releasing data on admitted students at this time.” They referred the ‘Prince’ back to the official admission announcement on the University website.

Janny Eng is a news contributor for the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at je3398@princeton.edu.