How does the Class of 2030 view the use of AI, notable Princeton alumni, and affirmative action and legacy status in the admission process? Read to learn about these hot campus issues and perspectives on rapidly changing government and technological policies.
The incoming freshman class leans liberal, with 66.9 percent of respondents reporting being either somewhat or very left-leaning and only 1.75 percent of respondents reporting being very right-leaning. Over 78 percent of the Class of 2030 is strongly opposed to President Donald Trump, while Kamala Harris garners more divided responses. When asked how they anticipated their political leanings will compare to their peers, 55.3 percent anticipated having about the same political views as their classmates, while the remaining 44.7 percent were almost evenly split between feeling more liberal or conservative than their classmates.
Similar to 54.9 percent from the Class of 2029, 62.1 percent of the Class of 2030 expressed a strongly favorable opinion of Michelle Obama ’85. Pete Hegseth ’03 received the most negative views among students, with 47.2 percent claiming a strongly unfavorable view. 25.4 percent of the students had strongly unfavorable views on Jeff Bezos ’86. Over half of the respondents said they did not have enough information to render an opinion on Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan ’81 and Samuel Alito ’72.
Almost one in five respondents viewed eating club Bicker favorably or somewhat favorably, while 21.7 percent regarded race-based admission favorably or somewhat favorably. Three in 10 students who identified as very right-leaning viewed legacy admissions as strongly favorable, while only 2 percent of strongly left-learning students viewed it as strongly favorable.
83.1 percent of the Class of 2030 believes that Princeton welcomes free speech and dissent, and 86 percent believes that it is a school where people are constantly studying. 43.9 percent of students believe Princeton is predominantly white and wealthy, while 66.1 percent believes it is diverse racially and economically.
Social Issues
Similar to the Class of 2029, more in three in five members of Princeton’s Class of 2030 viewed abortion services strongly favorably, while being more divided over issues including transgender athletes in sports, gender affirming care, and the legalization of marijuana. Only 15.3 percent of the incoming class views AI as revolutionary, with 40.5 percent seeing it as useful in certain cases and 39.3 percent viewing it as dangerous. This comes as the University has attempted to adapt to the rise of AI.