Princeton University is a private university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League and is considered one of the Colonial Colleges. It is widely regarded as one of the leading and most prestigious universities in the world.

Founded in 1746 at Elizabeth, New Jersey, as the College of New Jersey, it was moved to Newark in 1747, then to Princeton in 1756 and renamed "Princeton University" in 1896. (The present-day The College of New Jersey in nearby Ewing, New Jersey, is an unrelated institution.)

Princeton was the fourth institution of higher education in the U.S. to conduct classes.Princeton appears to be the fourth institution to conduct classes, based on dates that do not seem to be in dispute. Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania both claim the fourth oldest founding date; the University of Pennsylvania once used 1749 as its founding date, making it fifth, but in 1899, its trustees adopted a resolution that asserted 1740 as the founding date. For the details of Penn's claim, see University of Pennsylvania; and “Building Penn's Brand” for background, and “Princeton vs. Penn: Which is the Older Institution?” for Princeton's view. A Log College was operated by William and Gilbert Tennent, the Presbyterian ministers, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, from 1726 until 1746; it was once common to assert a connection between it and the College of New Jersey, which would justify Princeton pushing its founding date back to 1726. Princeton, however, has never done so and a Princeton historian says that the facts “do not warrant” such an interpretation. 1. Columbia University and Rutgers began classes in 1754 and 1766; their continuity was severely shaken during the American Revolution. The university, unlike most American universities that were founded at the same time, did not have an official religious affiliation. At one time, it had close ties to the Presbyterian Church, but today it is nonsectarian and makes no religious demands of its students. The university has ties with the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton Theological Seminary, and the Westminster Choir College of Rider University.

Princeton University has traditionally focused on undergraduate education, although it has almost 2,500 graduate students enrolled.A unique blend of research university and liberal arts, Princeton does not offer professional schooling generally, but it does offer professional master's degrees (mostly through the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) and doctoral programs in the sciences, humanities, and social sciences, as well as engineering.

History

main: History of Princeton University