Living in Princeton
Housing
Princeton offers many options for graduate student housing both on and off campus. Over 70% of enrolled graduate students live in on-campus Graduate Housing while pursuing their advanced degree. All incoming students are guaranteed housing in their first year and should expect to retain the option for continued on-campus graduate housing for the first three years of study. Housing options include dormitory-style living in the Graduate College and apartment living in several complexes. Students may apply for housing that they will share with their spouse, domestic partner, and/or dependents.
Information on housing options and on-campus rates is available through Graduate Student Housing.
Community
Princeton University and its surrounding community together provide an ideal environment for learning and research. Princeton — noted for its highly collaborative ethos and the proximity of the engineering, physics, mathematics, and molecular biology departments, together with the DOE Princeton Plasma Physics Lab and the Institute for Advanced Study — offers valuable associates, supplementary facilities, and diverse sources of specialist knowledge. Many pharmaceutical and science-based companies have research laboratories near Princeton, leading to fruitful collaborations, seminars and lecture series, and employment opportunities after graduation.
The nearby concentration of elite institutions and large corporations, coupled with the commutability of New York City and Philadelphia, make Princeton a unique community of highly educated, professionals. Although it is a small town (population less than 27,500), the intellectual and cultural offerings rival the number and variety found in large cities, with the advantage of having everything within easy walking or bicycling distance. Attractions include a Tony Award–winning regional theater; a very active local arts council and public library; annual opera and jazz festivals; ongoing orchestral, chamber, and choral performances; and artisanal dining as well as fabled New Jersey diners. Scientific seminars and other symposia across the University bring prominent visitors from every field of endeavor.
Princeton’s surrounding landscape offers great places for walking, hiking, bicycling, birding, canoeing, and outdoor discovery. Graduate students also enjoy free access to the University’s athletic facilities which include the fitness center, indoor pools, a skating rink, and tennis and squash courts.
Useful Links:
Guide to getting around campus
Princeton University Campus Recreation