VIEWS

Two-thirds of first-years perceive the University to be predominantly white and wealthy while over three-quarters think Princeton is an intellectual haven where free speech and dissent are welcomed. Students are less certain about whether Princeton is having a mental health crisis, with roughly equal proportions saying there is or there isn’t, while over a third are unsure.

As with previous class years, more of the Class of 2027 describe themselves as more liberal (69 percent) than Gen Z as a whole (48 percent), according to an NBC News poll. 34.4 percent of survey respondents said they saw themselves as more liberal than their high school classmates, but more think they will be about the same (57.6 percent) or more conservative (23.5 percent) than their Princeton classmates. The Class of 2027 also favors Joe Biden over both Donald Trump and Ron Desantis. Biden holds a similar approval rating with Princeton’s first-years (37.9 percent) as he does nationally (41.1 percent on the day the Frosh Survey closed, according to FiveThirtyEight), and a much lower disapproval rating with the Class of 2027 (29 percent) than nationally (54.1 percent).

The Class of 2027 expressed generally liberal views on abortion, climate change, and the legalization of marijuana, but were split on the issue of banning trans women from participating in women’s sports: 38.4 percent of first-years said they were favorable towards a ban, while 35.4 percent were not. Almost one-half of students said that artificial intelligence could be useful, while 18.8 percent called it “revolutionary.” On police abolition, a plurality of respondents across each racial group the ‘Prince’ tracked, with the exception of Black/African American Hispanic first-years, expressed strongly unfavorable views.

We asked the Class of 2027 how they felt about various alumni in government and business. As in previous years, Michelle Obama ‘85 was the most popular among respondents, with 83.5 percent giving her a favorable rating. Meanwhile Ted Cruz ’92 remains the least popular alumni among those surveyed, with a 59.3 percent disapproval rate. Respondents appeared most divided over Jeff Bezos ’86, with 28.2 percent viewing him favorably and 40.8 percent viewing him unfavorably. Meanwhile, 24.1 percent of respondents say they arrived at Princeton with a favorable view of University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83, and 3 percent saw him in an unfavorable light.

As the first class to matriculate after the Supreme Court's June 2023 ruling on affirmative action, 48.1 percent of incoming frosh indicated that they were strongly/somewhat favorable towards using race as a factor in college admissions, while 23.9 percent held a strongly/somewhat unfavorable view, consistent with previous Frosh surveys. Among racial demographics, Black or African American and Hispanic respondents felt most strongly favorable at 55.6 percent, whereas white non-Hispanic respondents recorded the highest strong unfavorability at 11.3 percent. As for career aspirations, first-years are in a consensus, with 73.1 percent indicating that their current career aspirations were to be in the nation’s service or in the service of humanity, and 64.8 percent indicating that their aspirations were to make money.