Since 2023, Princeton’s Transfer Scholars Initiative has helped more than 150 community college students from New Jersey successfully transfer to selective four-year colleges and universities. Jayed Sourov, a first-generation college student at Atlantic Cape Community College, says the program helped shape his future: “Community college built up my confidence and TSI helped me discover who I can become and where I want to go next.” Read more about Jayed in this story in The Press of Atlantic City.

Local high school students can also find pathways to higher education through the Princeton University Preparatory Program. The multiyear, tuition-free program prepares participants from first-generation and lower-income backgrounds for admission to and success within selective colleges and universities.

This year’s Aspiring Scholars and Professionals program paired 11 undergraduates from local colleges and universities with Princeton faculty and staff mentors to introduce them to careers in higher education through professional development and research internships. Thanks to her experience, Middlesex College student Mariela Flores is now considering a career focused on addressing gaps in STEM education, particularly for first-generation college students like herself.

Summer employment opportunities also give students a glimpse of potential career options. Princeton’s Summer Youth Employment Program matches high school students with internships at local organizations, offering entry-level work experience, job readiness training, career development training and the opportunity to explore future career aspirations.

For those interested in forging careers in fusion energy, the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory welcomes students from across the country to participate in hands-on research, technical training and professional development experiences each summer through internships and the Plasma Pathways Summer School.

For 25 years, rising high school seniors from across the country have honed their writing, research and critical-thinking skills through the Princeton Summer Journalism Program. “It’s just really nice to be in a professional environment where I have all these adults around me who are looking out for my best interest, and I have all these colleagues around me who are challenging themselves,” said Mohamed Omer of Cary, North Carolina.

When Ian Auzenne ’10 received a phone call from his mom on April 1, 2006, saying he had been accepted to Princeton, he thought it was an April Fool’s joke. “When she read the letter and Admissions Dean Janet Rapelye’s name at the end, I realized it was no joke. I’m a natural procrastinator, but I put the postcard confirming my acceptance in the mail the next morning.”

Auzenne, who grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana, was introduced to Princeton through the inaugural Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America Scholars Program summer session in 2005. “It’s a summer I’ll never forget. The program was an eye-opening experience for a kid from South Louisiana who had never been that far away from home by himself.” Learn more about Ian’s Princeton experience and why he is proudly standing up for Princeton and higher education.

Welcome to Princeton! Incoming graduate students showed their support for Princeton and higher education during the New Student Orientation Information Fair at the end of August.

Annual Giving is one of the most immediate ways to stand up for Princeton, and every gift counts. Thank you to every Tiger and friend of the University who contributed to the 2025-26 Annual Giving campaign. Your support is more important now than ever, and you delivered. More than 33,300 Annual Giving gifts combined to total $79.6 million — the second highest campaign in history.

Because of budget uncertainties associated with federal funding, the University will need to draw even more heavily on Annual Giving and other sources. Unrestricted gifts through Annual Giving directly support Princeton’s educational mission, enabling the University to stay at the forefront of teaching and research and to ensure that talented students from all backgrounds can afford a Princeton education and graduate debt-free. Make a difference by giving to this year’s campaign.

University Communications and Princeton Advancement have designed a higher education advocacy presentation, and they’re taking it on the road and online for alumni groups. In this 45-minute session, you can learn more about Stand Up and how you can play a role in elevating thoughtful public dialogue. You’ll also gain communications and advocacy tools designed for any situation, get informed about how to respond to common critiques of higher education and practice telling your own higher education story. If your regional, affinity, class or APGA group is interested in scheduling a session, email standup@princeton.edu.

• In the journal Nature, Princeton physics and neuroscience professor Andrew Leifer, along with colleagues at Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago, speak up about the importance of checks and balances to executive power for advancing and funding science.
• The vote on a proposed rule from the Office of Management and Budget that would impact nearly every stage of administering federal research grants has been delayed until December.
• Trust in science has declined in recent years, but large international surveys show some surprises. For one, scientists are still among the most trusted professionals. A piece in Nature delves into findings from around the world.

How are you standing up?

Share your success stories with us and we’ll feature them in future editions of this newsletter. Email us at standup@princeton.edu.

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