Annual Giving Rate at Princeton Tanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Other possibilities:
1) Legacy admissions, while still extant, has decreased enough such that alumni parents are unwilling to donate knowing that odds of admission are declining for legacy children.
2) The cost of college has become so high that even wealthier parents are unwilling to donate on top of the absurd cost of tuition, room and board.

+1 I think the younger generation tends to see legacies less favorably than the older generation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Yale, not Princeton. So did my husband. We used to give a small amount every year and we both had a very good experience at Yale. We don't bother anymore. I don't know if our kids will have any interest in going to Yale or have the credentials (they are still young) but the fact that Yale seems willing to move away from caring about family connections and is constantly crowing about how many first gen applicants they accept, makes me not care as much about sending them money. I am sure that those first gen applicants are terrific and deserve to be at Yale, but I don't like that they are holding my accomplishments against my kids. My parents worked really hard to become the first in their families to go to state colleges in the 1960s. My parents' hard work is something to be proud of and that I'm glad was not held against me when I applied to Yale. I was truly middle class, so not low income, and my parents went to college, so not first gen. That is not the same thing as being a wealthy kid from generations of college graduates. This new emphasis on FGLI is a blunt instrument.

NP here. Thank you for your candid perspective. I had this idea in my head that if I had gone to Yale and had kids who might be interested in attending Yale, I would be giving a fair amount to give my kids an advantage. (This is all hypothetical of course). I have never heard someone articulate it the way you just did - it's food for thought for sure.

There's definitely a new emphasis on FGLI, rural students, and international students in the name of equity. I don't know if that's going to change at these elite schools or not, but it is unsettling for parents these days for sure.

It's unsettling that people still want to keep legacies today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From about 1970 to 2015, Princeton's annual giving rate was around 60%, one of the highest among leading universities.

Over the past 10 years, however, the giving rate has declined to 44%, the lowest in about 80 years.

There are a number of factors that could account for this, but an obvious one is that recent Princeton students are less satisfied with their experience than their predecessors and less inclined to donate. One wonders if the extreme focus on admitting a more diverse range of students is actually resulting in a student body that experiences more stress, enjoys their undergraduate experience less, and has less interest in maintaining ties to the school after graduation.

It feels like a bit of a canary in the coal mine in terms of suggesting it's a place that's losing its way and in need of some major reforms, whether it's taking a look at whether the right kids are being admitted or whether the right kids are being admitted but they need to make changes to make the undergraduate experience more gratifying.

Or maybe Princeton's newer generation has less generational wealth and thus less $$ to drop for donations?

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to Yale, not Princeton. So did my husband. We used to give a small amount every year and we both had a very good experience at Yale. We don't bother anymore. I don't know if our kids will have any interest in going to Yale or have the credentials (they are still young) but the fact that Yale seems willing to move away from caring about family connections and is constantly crowing about how many first gen applicants they accept, makes me not care as much about sending them money. I am sure that those first gen applicants are terrific and deserve to be at Yale, but I don't like that they are holding my accomplishments against my kids. My parents worked really hard to become the first in their families to go to state colleges in the 1960s. My parents' hard work is something to be proud of and that I'm glad was not held against me when I applied to Yale. I was truly middle class, so not low income, and my parents went to college, so not first gen. That is not the same thing as being a wealthy kid from generations of college graduates. This new emphasis on FGLI is a blunt instrument.

Loss of privilege is a painful thing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From about 1970 to 2015, Princeton's annual giving rate was around 60%, one of the highest among leading universities.

Over the past 10 years, however, the giving rate has declined to 44%, the lowest in about 80 years.

There are a number of factors that could account for this, but an obvious one is that recent Princeton students are less satisfied with their experience than their predecessors and less inclined to donate. One wonders if the extreme focus on admitting a more diverse range of students is actually resulting in a student body that experiences more stress, enjoys their undergraduate experience less, and has less interest in maintaining ties to the school after graduation.

It feels like a bit of a canary in the coal mine in terms of suggesting it's a place that's losing its way and in need of some major reforms, whether it's taking a look at whether the right kids are being admitted or whether the right kids are being admitted but they need to make changes to make the undergraduate experience more gratifying.

Why would a more diverse range of students lead to a student body that experiences more stress and enjoys their undergraduate experience less?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Email the editors of the daily Princetonian and ask them. Maybe they can do a story about it.

Already been done by the alumni magazine: https://paw.princeton.edu/article/giving-plea

[Anonymous]

My opinion is that international students don't give money to their alma maters like US alums do.

[Anonymous]

It could also be cultural. Grads who come from low income families or from cultures without a sense of philanthropy may be less inclined to give. And there are a lot more of those students now at Princeton than when it was a a WASP bastion.

[Anonymous]

whatever the reason is serve Princeton right. it won't hurt it has billions in its endowment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's reassuring that people here don't just take things at face value and can think of reasons why the story OP is trying to tell might not be the only story.

What's your angle, OP? That Princeton is in some sort of trouble? They're doing just fine.

There may be other possibilities and so appreciate the alternatives identified, but it does seem to me that Princeton may be in trouble. It appears they are relaxing admissions requirements to serve equity goals, but then plunging kids who may not be fully prepared into a very rigorous academic environment. That’s exacerbated by the very high percentage of kids who pursue tough STEM, CS, and engineering degrees, and the odd social environment with its antiquated “Bicker” clubs. So my hypothesis is that the graduates are less happy about their undergraduate experience and that this translates into a lower percentage of alumni donating after they graduate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think sensibilities have changed.

If you want to use your money to do good, a donation to an alma mater with billions is the last place you'd send it.

I would regard the 40 percent who are still donating to Princeton as people who are trying to game things for their offspring. A donation to Princeton is not the same as trying to end starvation or wars or helping orphans or assisting on any number of issues.

Princeton will do fine without your contribution. But those dollars can have a lot of impact elsewhere.

+1 I'm a Princeton alumna. Their endownment is enormous, and I donate annually so it looks good for their stats, but it's not a huge amount. I'd rather give money to Doctors Without Borders or World Central Kitchen who are trying to save people from dying of disease and hunger in war zones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From about 1970 to 2015, Princeton's annual giving rate was around 60%, one of the highest among leading universities.

Over the past 10 years, however, the giving rate has declined to 44%, the lowest in about 80 years.

There are a number of factors that could account for this, but an obvious one is that recent Princeton students are less satisfied with their experience than their predecessors and less inclined to donate. One wonders if the extreme focus on admitting a more diverse range of students is actually resulting in a student body that experiences more stress, enjoys their undergraduate experience less, and has less interest in maintaining ties to the school after graduation.

It feels like a bit of a canary in the coal mine in terms of suggesting it's a place that's losing its way and in need of some major reforms, whether it's taking a look at whether the right kids are being admitted or whether the right kids are being admitted but they need to make changes to make the undergraduate experience more gratifying.

Or maybe Princeton's newer generation has less generational wealth and thus less $$ to drop for donations?

This.

It doesn’t require generational wealth to give $10 to your alma mater every year. Maybe there’s just been so much attention to how large Princeton’s endowment is per student in recent years that later alumni just conclude the university doesn’t need their help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has annual giving to colleges in general also declined? Could just be part of a larger trend and not specific to Princeton.

This is a critical piece of context to understand. It's unclear that this is unique to Princeton. Since 1970 real wages have stagnated, 2008 financial crisis, Covid, etc. College, in real terms, has become much more expensive. College loan debt is high.

Seems difficult to hypothesize cause without more info. It could be bitter alum, but I would think there is more to it.

[Anonymous]

People who have had the privilege to go to Ivies in the past don't always see that the kid who was not born on home base deserves to be given a chance. Legacies usually have a lot of wealth and privilege and they were hardly ever the best of the students I encountered.

I work with students and some have faced enormous obstacles to get an education and they had to work incredibly hard and support their families while navigating school, and I feel they should be given a shot this time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's reassuring that people here don't just take things at face value and can think of reasons why the story OP is trying to tell might not be the only story.

What's your angle, OP? That Princeton is in some sort of trouble? They're doing just fine.

Totally. Seems OP has an agenda...why just pick out Princeton. Crazy stuff.