Until the middle of the nineteenth century, admission decisions were based primarily on an oral examination given at Princeton. The president made the final admission decisions and sometimes administered the exam himself. Written examinations gradually replaced oral examinations, and after 1888, they could be taken at a number of locations throughout the country.

A flood of applicants after the First World War forced the University to limit enrollment and institute a selective admission policy. The trustees decided to create the Admission Office in 1922 and charged it to apply the new admission policies. Until that year, students who passed the exams--proving competency in classical languages, mathematics, and other core subjects--were admitted automatically. From the establishment of the office until 1950, director Radcliffe Heermance shaped modern admission procedures (such as mailed applications, consideration of standardized assessment scores, and alumni interviews) and established lasting relationships between the Admission Office and secondary schools, alumni, and the faculty admission committee. Since 1950, Admission Office directors have overseen the recruitment of disadvantaged and minority students (since the mid-1960s), the introduction of women into the applicant pool (in 1969), and the soaring application rates of the late twentieth century.

The College of New Jersey was initially chartered in 1746. The first classes were held in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in the parsonage of the president, the Reverend Jonathan Dickinson. Upon his death, the College moved to Newark, New Jersey, and was headed by the Reverend Aaron Burr, Sr. Since 1756, the College has been located in Princeton, New Jersey. For the first fifty years, nearly all College operations took place within Nassau Hall. Fires, fundraising difficulties, low student enrollment, and the Civil War challenged the vitality of the College in the early and middle nineteenth century, but the College grew vigorously under the leadership of President James McCosh, and it was renamed Princeton University in 1896. The Graduate School was established in 1900, although a limited graduate program had existed since the 1870s. Princeton enthusiastically supported the country (living up to its informal motto, "Princeton in the Nation's Service") during the First and Second World Wars, offering the expertise of faculty and campus space for training, as well as facilitating the early graduation of students so they could enlist. The post-World War II years brought dramatic changes to Princeton. The size and strength of the University's facilities and academic programs—especially for the applied sciences and public policy—were increased dramatically. Under President Robert Goheen, Princeton began to admit minority students in greater numbers in the 1960s and admitted women undergraduates in 1969. Today, Princeton is widely regarded as one of the top universities in the world.