Almost all political donations made by Princeton University faculty members went to Democrats in the 2023-2024 election cycle — while not a single dime was contributed to a Republican, according to a new study.
The first-of-its-kind study, released this week by Princetonians for Free Speech (PFS), uncovers an alarming ideological split among teachers at one of the most prestigious schools in the country.
It found that 98% of the Ivy League school’s faculty donated solely to Democrats, with a marginal 2% going to Independents and affiliated groups. Nothing was donated to Republicans.
The study covers all contributions by current Princeton faculty required to be reported to the Federal Election Commission during the most recent election cycle.
The group said the findings point to “a near-total absence of viewpoint diversity among the university’s faculty,” and reflect the distribution of political affiliations among faculty at other top universities.
More than 80% of Harvard’s faculty consider their political views “liberal” or “very liberal,” according to a 2022 study by The Harvard Crimson.
In a study similar to the one PFS conducted at Princeton, Yale News analyzed how professors at the Connecticut Ivy League donated earlier this year.
It also found that 98% of the donations went to Democrats, while the remaining 2% went to independent candidates or groups.
“This first-of-its-kind study of Princeton faculty contributions demonstrates the glaring lack of viewpoint diversity among Princeton faculty, an issue that Princeton’s leadership can no longer ignore,” said Edward Yingling, co-founder and chairman of PFS.
The group is a non-partisan, alumni-driven organization founded in late 2020 that works to promote and protect freedom of speech, academic freedom and diversity of viewpoints at the elite New Jersey university.
In February, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon was banning service members from attending graduate programs at Princeton and other top colleges, blasting them as “woke breeding grounds of toxic indoctrination.”
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“Today, just like we did with Harvard, I am ordering the complete and immediate cancellation of all Department of War attendance at institutions like Princeton, Columbia, MIT, Brown, Yale and many others, starting next academic year, 2026-2027,” Hegseth said in a video statement.
“We cannot and will not continue to send our most capable officers, senior officers, into graduate programs that undermine the very values they have sworn to uphold,” he added.
Princeton did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
