Having steered ahead of Yale University in the QS World University Rankings® 2014/15, Princeton University now joins Harvard University as one of the top two US Ivy League schools. Both are ranked within the overall top 10 universities globally, and both excel across the board of academic subjects, making choosing between the two a tricky (but enviable) task to face. Here’s our guide to Princeton vs Harvard, taking in the latest data from the rankings, as well as information about location, student community, fees and financial aid.
This year’s top Ivy League schools
Comprised of just eight elite members, the Ivy League is a group of private US universities known throughout the world for their prestige and history, all located within the New England region in the northeast of the nation. In the 2014/15 edition of the QS World University Rankings, Harvard University remains the Ivy League’s frontrunner, ranked 4th in the world, while Princeton is the group’s second representative, having scooped 9th place and overtaken Yale (10th), which we compared to Harvard last year. Although Harvard beats Princeton in a number of factors, Princeton (the younger of the two by 110 years), certainly holds its own. In fact, by endowment per student, Princeton now claims the title of the wealthiest school in the United States.
Below is an overview of what both of these two top Ivy League schools have on offer, allowing you to compare them on the factors that are most important to you. Below the table is a more in-depth analysis of each school’s excellence. So, Princeton vs Harvard: which will win?
Harvard University | Princeton University | |
QS World University Rankings® 2014/15 |
Ranked 4th in the world overall in 2014/15
Ranked 2nd in the world by academics and 3rd by employers
Stronger than Princeton for research citations and international students
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Ranked 9th in the world overall in 2014/15
Ranked 11th in the world by academics and 32nd by employers
Stronger than Harvard for faculty-student ratio
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Subject strengths* |
Ranked 1st in the world for arts & humanities
17th for engineering & technology
1st for life sciences & medicine
2nd for natural sciences
1st for social sciences & management
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Ranked 7th in the world for arts & humanities
27th for engineering & technology
131st for life sciences & medicine
10th for natural sciences
15th for social sciences & management
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Location |
Cambridge, Massachusetts
On the northeast coast of the US, north of Boston.
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Princeton, New Jersey
Also in the northeast, just southwest of New York State.
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Student community |
About 21,000 students, of which 14,000 are postgraduates
11% of undergraduate students and 34% of graduates (within arts and sciences) are international.
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About 8,010 students, of which 2,674 are postgraduates
11% of undergraduate students and 37% of graduate students are international.
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Tuition fees & financial aid |
Undergraduate student fees for 2014-15 are US$43,938.
60% of undergraduates receive need-based aid (Harvard Scholarship).
Need-blind admission for all
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Undergraduate student fees for 2015-16 are US$43,540.
60% of undergraduates receive need-based aid (averaging US$40,000).
Need-blind admission for all
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*Based on the QS World University Rankings by Faculty.
QS World University Rankings® 2014/15
Clearly, Harvard University and Princeton University are both among the world’s strongest performers in the international university rankings, claiming strong scores in all of the performance indicators used. At this elite level, there’s very little difference between institutions, but nonetheless a closer look at the rankings data might throw some light on the fields in which each of these top Ivy League schools particularly excels.
Ranked 4th in the world overall, Harvard is in fact named the globe’s number one university in three out of the five major subject areas considered in the QS World University Rankings by Faculty; arts & humanities, life sciences & medicine and social sciences & management. It’s also ranked 2nd in the world for natural sciences (behind the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and 17th in the world for engineering & technology – not quite as astounding, but still an incredibly strong rank.
As for Princeton University, its strongest faculty area is arts & humanities, in which it ranks 7th in the world, followed by natural sciences where it places 10th. Just 10 places behind its rival, Princeton ranks 27th for engineering & technology, and in social sciences & management comes 15th. Princeton’s only faculty area outside of the world’s top 30 is life sciences and medicine, for which it currently ranks 131st globally.
It’s also possible to compare the two on each of the six performance indicators used to compile the rankings. Helped by its long-standing prestige, Harvard University is ranked 2nd in the world for its academic reputation (based on QS’s global survey of academics) and 3rd in the world for its reputation amongst employers (based on QS’s global survey of employers). Princeton on the other hand receives a rank of 32nd for employer reputation and 11th for academic reputation – but it’s worth remembering that this nonetheless makes it one of the world’s very highest reputed institutions.
In the indicator based on research citations per faculty member, Harvard comes 3rd in the world, and Princeton 27th. For ratio of academic staff members to students, Harvard is again slightly ahead, at 29th in the world, while Princeton’s global position for this factor is 43rd. The final two indicators assess proportions of international students and international faculty members, aiming to measure the levels of international diversity at each university. Here, both Ivy League leaders place a little lower than elsewhere. Harvard places 53rd in the world for international faculty and 117th for international students, while Princeton meanwhile is 187th for faculty and 194th for students. In global terms, both are still pretty international places to work and study – but this does remain an area in which both top Ivy League schools have space for improvement.
Subject strengths
Taking a look at the QS World University Rankings by Subject provides some more detailed insights into the individual subjects for which Harvard and Princeton each school is best known. For individual prospective students, these rankings may be the key deciders in the Princeton vs Harvard debate, providing the starting point for some further research into the courses each institution has to offer.
In 2014, Harvard University ranked within the world’s top 200 for 25 of the 30 subjects covered by the QS World University Rankings by Subject, coming within the global top 10 in a highly impressive 24 – and ranked the world’s overall leader in 11 distinct disciplines. These number one positions are as follows: accounting and finance, biological sciences, Earth and marine sciences, economics and econometrics, law and legal studies, mathematics, medicine, pharmacy, politics, psychology and sociology.
Other subject areas in which Harvard is ranked among the world’s leaders include: environmental studies (2nd), physics (2nd), education and training (3rd), English language and literature (3rd), history and archaeology (3rd), modern languages (3rd), chemistry (4th), statistics and operational research (4th), computer science and information systems (5th), philosophy (6th), linguistics (7th), mechanical engineering (8th), electrical and electronic engineering (9th) and materials sciences (12th).
The only subject rankings in which Harvard doesn’t appear are chemical engineering, civil and structural engineering, geography, communication and media studies, and agriculture and forestry – all subjects the university doesn’t cover!
Meanwhile Princeton University appears in 23 of the subject rankings, just two less than star pupil Harvard. Of these, it’s ranked within the global top 10 for 10 subjects: politics (4th), history and archaeology (5th), mathematics (6th), economics and econometrics (7th), modern languages (7th), philosophy (7th), physics (7th), English language and literature (8=), computer science (10th) and statistics and operational research (10th).
Location
All the Ivy League schools congregate in New England, the northeastern region of the US known for its beautiful autumnal scenes as well as its close proximity to some of the most vibrant intellectual and cultural hubs in the world, including New York and Boston.
Harvard can be found in the university town of Cambridge, Massachusetts, just to the north of the city of Boston. Named after the University of Cambridge in the UK, Cambridge, MA, is also home to the world’s current number one university, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). And, with two such prominent universities in such close proximity, the city has a longstanding history of being an academic hub, with a very much student-centered community.
With river banks lined with trees, historical architecture and a thriving arts and culture scene, Cambridge is for some the archetypal student location. And for those who want a bit more of a cosmopolitan experience, it’s an easy trip to neighboring Boston, one of the leading urban centers in the US for everything from architectural innovation to legislative change.
Traveling southwest from Massachusetts, through the states of Connecticut and New York, down through Manhattan and the Bronx, you come to the state of New Jersey, where Princeton University is located, in the town from which it takes its name.
Located in the northwest of the state, Princeton is about 50 miles southwest from New York City and a similar distance to the northeast of Philadelphia. Much like Cambridge, MA, it very much has the feel of being a “college town”, with its student population playing a key part in local life and culture. The college campus itself, which features architecture from the 18th century onwards and the manmade Lake Carnegie, has been listed as one of the most attractive among US universities.
Student community
Harvard University, significantly larger than Princeton, has a total student enrollment of 21,000, of which 14,000 are postgraduate students. Princeton claims a total enrolment of 8,010, of which 2,674 are postgraduates. These large numbers of postgraduates, making up two thirds of enrolment at Harvard and over one quarter of enrolments at Princeton, reflect the strong focus on research at each school.
Though (as mentioned above) international diversity is not the strongest indicator for either institution, both offer reasonably high proportions of overseas students: in both cases, 11% of undergraduates are international, and this percentage trebles for international students enrolled within the graduate and professional schools.
Tuition fees
As is the case for US universities more widely, tuition fees at the top Ivy League schools are among the highest in the world. However, you certainly shouldn’t let this prevent you from considering either school, as both schools operate a “need blind” admission policy – meaning financial aid is always available for those who gain an offer of a place.
At Harvard, undergraduate fees currently stand at US$43,938 annually (2014-15) with additional costs for accommodation, travel and personal expenses bringing this figure up to an overall yearly expenditure of between US$62,250 and US$68,050. Meanwhile at Princeton, annual tuition fees are slightly less, at US$43,540 (2015-16), with accommodation, travel and personal costs bringing the yearly spend to approximately US$61,275. For both schools, this latter figure depends on how frugally you may or may not live.
Other costs you may have to pay include the fee for health insurance if you don’t already have it. This can cost approximately US$2,000.
Graduate fees are typically more expensive wherever you study, and also tend to fluctuate significantly depending on field of study. At Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, tuition fees stand at US$40,416 (2014-15 figures) with an advised additional budget of US$31,860. Princeton charges regular graduate tuition fees of US$41,820 per year with additional approximate living expenses of US$22,875.
If you’re considering studying medicine or business,however, costs will be higher still. At Harvard’s Medical School (for graduate students only) fees stand at US$54,200 (2014-15 figures), while at Harvard Business School an MBA program will cost US$58,875, with a recommended annual budget of US$95,100 (2014-15 figures).
Financial aid
If you’ve read the last passage with a pained expression on your face, then help is at hand. You’ll be pleased to hear that, like most of the Ivy League schools, Harvard and Princeton both offer generous financial aid programs. As much as 60% of undergraduate students at both institutions receive need-based financial aid. At Harvard this aid is known as the ‘Harvard Scholarship’, which offers payment of full tuition for students of families earning less than US$60,000 annually, as well as an average grant for all students of US$40,000, a figure which Princeton matches.
Both are among the six US universities to run a need-blind policy for all undergraduate students, both international and domestic. This means a pledge to admit all students based solely on merit and nothing else, even if students aren’t able to pay any of the fees! If the student then accepts the offer, each school will contribute as much as is needed for the student to attend their program.
And what about graduate students? Yes, both universities offer funds to graduates too, often in the form of grants, loans, fellowships and scholarships, as well as paid employment. The amount offered is dependent on a number of factors, including level of study, program and financial situation – for information on exactly how much you can expect to pay, visit Harvard or Princeton’s graduate school website.
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