Princeton University's Graduate School admitted 1,258 of the 10,956 students who applied for the 2015-16 academic year, with the school's international reputation and generous financial support attracting exceptional students. Of the admitted students, 624 had accepted the school's offer of admission as of June 15. The overall Graduate School admission rate is 11 percent, the same as last year. 

"We are delighted with the continued strength in our applicant pool, and with the fact that the Graduate School at Princeton continues to attract outstanding students in all departments," said Sanjeev Kulkarni, dean of the Graduate School. "Our distinguished faculty and exceptional academic programs draw students from around the world."

The 5,946 international students who applied made up 54 percent of the total applicant pool, while the 5,010 U.S. citizens and permanent residents made up 46 percent.

Among all applicants, 651 were underrepresented American minorities, including 436 Latino/Hispanics, 207 African Americans, 7 American Indians and one Pacific Islander. Of the total number of minority students, 110 received offers of admission. Of the admitted students 485, or 39 percent, are women and 773, or 61 percent, are men. International students were admitted from 58 countries, with the largest number of students expected from, in order, China, Canada, India and the United Kingdom.

"We have continued our outreach and recruitment efforts to attract and retain U.S. students from historically underrepresented backgrounds," Kulkarni said. "Princeton is committed to increasing the diversity of its graduate student body, and we have made efforts on a variety of fronts. We saw an increase in the number of applicants and admits from underrepresented backgorunds.  We are cautiously optimistic and will continue our efforts in this area."

The standard 12-month doctoral fellowship will increase to $29,600 from the current stipend of $28,600, an increase of 3.5 percent over last year's figure.

"Princeton's outstanding faculty, programs, and support packages attract top students, who in turn contribute to the strength and reputation of the Graduate School," Kulkarni said.

Academic fields admitting the highest proportion of applicants were the natural sciences with 14 percent admitted, followed by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs with 14 percent admitted. The percentage of admitted applicants for other fields was 12 percent for engineering, 9 percent for the School of Architecture, 11 percent for the humanities and 9 percent for the social sciences.

The average Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores for admitted students were 162.5 out of 170 on the verbal section, 162 out of 170 on the quantitative section and 4.6 out of 6 on the analytical writing section.