"Princeton president says elite school is ‘inclined’ to expand undergrad enrollment"

"“At our level of higher education, the problem isn’t affordability,” he said. “Our students graduate with very little debt. … The problem is scarcity. And if we can do something about it, we should.”...

He said Princeton has diversified significantly in recent years. In 2001, he said, the share of undergraduates with family income low enough to qualify for federal Pell grants was 6 percent. The share in the class that entered last fall, he said, was 18 percent."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/08/04/princeton-president-says-elite-school-is-inclined-to-expand-undergrad-enrollment/?postshare=1651438790728671

The thing that was wonderful and inspiring about my alma mater was the way it stood at the top of many lists of the best universities in the country and the world, and yet it's still committed to observing its flaws and bettering itself. I have encountered so, so many institutions that are deeply and aggressively content to rest on their laurels, and become hostile when people point out flaws - reacting by pointing out that these flaws are common and most other places aren't trying to address them, most other people are just dealing, and look at all these ways that this institution is considered successful, so if you don't like it then you should go somewhere else!

Princeton definitely hides from some of its flaws, there is still definitely hostility and apathy when people point things out, but I have often observed a general culture of reflection and improvement. Our administration tried hard to recognize its privileges and its abilities to make an impact. And it was incredible to see it change in just the four years I was there, and to see that there was space for little-me to leave behind my own impacts.