Princeton spared from endowment tax

[Anonymous]

Brilliant and well-played. Curious how it'll work out for the other 10 or so schools hit with the endowment tax.

https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2026/05/princeton-news-adpol-university-spared-endowment-tax-financial-aid-millions-princo

[Anonymous]

Brilliant indeed, but hard to replicate. Few universities have Princeton's tiny undergrad population, and the ability to cover the financial need of so many of them (and nearly all graduate students.)

According to the attendees, who were granted anonymity to speak about the closed-door event, Ciniglio stated that the number of tuition-paying students at the University was under the 3,000 threshold to qualify for the tax, in response to an audience question. This comes after a $44 million expansion of the financial aid program for the 2025–2026 academic year, which eliminated tuition for most families making less than $250,000 and followed previous aid increases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Brilliant and well-played. Curious how it'll work out for the other 10 or so schools hit with the endowment tax.

https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2026/05/princeton-news-adpol-university-spared-endowment-tax-financial-aid-millions-princo

I mean, despite the dumb stuff done by the Trump admin, it seems like the tax is working the way it was supposed to. More money spent on getting kids in the door who otherwise couldn't afford it.

[Anonymous]

Only a school like Princeton could do this. Universities that don't pay as much attention to exclusivity and inaccessibility can't replicate this model.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only a school like Princeton could do this. Universities that don't pay as much attention to exclusivity and inaccessibility can't replicate this model.

Only very very rich schools are subject to this tax in the first place. It's probably the only Trump initiative I'm happy with.

[Anonymous]

Princeton was always going to be spared given the thresholds.

Dartmouth is another that could be close.

[Anonymous]

Princeton lobbied for the loophole and got it. Now it's working just as they intended. Hopefully, though, the loophole is closed by a future Congress. Princeton is an absurdly rich school that should pay its fair share.

[Anonymous]

So if the colleges have enough money and can offer free tuition instead of paying a tax, the college chooses free tuition?

Why doesn't Harvard do this? It would have to curtail the 25% of students from the rich, private, Independent schools, but Harvard is about equity??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So if the colleges have enough money and can offer free tuition instead of paying a tax, the college chooses free tuition?

Why doesn't Harvard do this? It would have to curtail the 25% of students from the rich, private, Independent schools, but Harvard is about equity??

Harvard is too big. Law school, medical school, business school, etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So if the colleges have enough money and can offer free tuition instead of paying a tax, the college chooses free tuition?

Why doesn't Harvard do this? It would have to curtail the 25% of students from the rich, private, Independent schools, but Harvard is about equity??

Harvard is too big. Law school, medical school, business school, etc

I thought the count that matter was fewer than 3,000 undergraduate students paying tuition?

[Anonymous]

It’s very clever, but when my child was looking at Princeton, I did think about what it would be like to pay full tuition at a place where the majority of classmates are paying little or nothing. I’m glad for them but schools with less generous policies (Yale) do feel fairer to payers like me who aren’t rich. Which is not something I’d thought about before.

[Anonymous]

I hate Trump but I love this policy (although I wish it did not have that loophole, although at least the loophole led to more kids getting financial aid)

[Anonymous]

this is why they fought for the number 3000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:this is why they fought for the number 3000.

Right, not an accident. They lobbied McCormick to get it done.

[Anonymous]

From chatting with other parents during the Princeton admitted day, I was surprised how every parent we talked to had students who got at least half financial coverage.

We are full paying so this did not play into DC's decision to decline Princeton, and there really wasn't a care as to whether others paid out of pocket or got aid. Good for Princeton to find a loophole. It is a great school with a beautiful/safe suburban campus.