The Emma Bloomberg Center for Access and Opportunity, established in 2021, enhances and expands Princeton’s fundamental commitment to the college success of students from first-generation, lower-income and underrepresented backgrounds. The Center brings together the University’s nation-leading initiatives in college access and opportunity, serves as a hub for research and innovation in the field of college access and success, and informs and strengthens similar efforts at colleges and universities across the country. Its programs include:
- The Freshman Scholars Institute (FSI) is a seven-week summer program that allows a cohort of entering students the chance to experience the intellectual, co-curricular, and social life at Princeton prior to the beginning of the Fall Semester.
- The Scholars Institute Fellows Program (SIFP) provides all first-generation and lower-income students at Princeton with mentorship, academic enrichment and scholarly community throughout their tenure at Princeton
- Princeton University Preparatory Program (PUPP) is a rigorous, academic and cultural enrichment program that supports high-achieving, low-income high school students from local districts.
- The Princeton University Summer Journalism Program’s goal is to diversify college and professional newsrooms by encouraging outstanding students from low-income backgrounds to pursue careers in journalism. The program welcomes 35-40 high school juniors (rising seniors) from low-income backgrounds every summer to Princeton’s campus for an intensive, 10-day seminar on journalism.
- The Transfer Program each year admits academically promising students who have excelled at other institutions of higher learning. Through the program, students who bring a variety of perspectives and experiences join the campus community, including those with backgrounds as first-generation, low-income students, community college students and U.S. military veterans.
Princeton also partners with national organizations that support the success of students from under-represented backgrounds, including Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA), the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, AI4ALL, The W.E.B. DuBois Scholars Institute and The Warrior-Scholar Project.
In addition, the University participates in national outreach and engagement efforts dedicated to expanding access and opportunity for under-represented students, including The American Talent Initiative (ATI) and The Council for Opportunity in Education (COE).
Graduate Programs
Graduate School programs focused on supporting the success of graduate students from under-represented backgrounds include:
- Diversity Fellows Program. Each year, the Access, Diversity and Inclusion Team seeks candidates to serve as Diversity Fellows for the academic year. Diversity Fellows work together to support an inclusive graduate school community and enhance the cultural, academic, and professional experience of underrepresented students.
- The Princeton Grad Scholars Program (GSP) is an exciting new experience for entering first-year graduate students and pre-doctoral students from diverse backgrounds designed to enhance and support academic, social, and community development during their initial graduate school experience.
- The Pre-Doctoral Fellowship is a one-year, fully funded fellowship that includes an offer of regular admission to the sponsoring doctoral program the following year. The fellowship is intended for students who would benefit from an additional year of training before formally entering the sponsoring departments' Ph.D. program.
- The Princeton Prospective Ph.D. Preview (P3) is a nationally recognized program that focuses on engaging scholars from historically underrepresented groups around the path to the Ph.D. The program prepares scholars for the graduate admissions process, provides skill and professional development workshops and provides a unique opportunity to learn more about graduate education at Princeton.