Brown University Overview
Brown University is a private not-for-profit institution situated in Providence, Rhode Island. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life.
What Is Brown University Known For?
- Students at Brown may have an easier time interacting with their teachers since the student to faculty ratio at the school is 7 to 1.
- Students at Brown have an easier time paying back their loans. The school's student loan default rate is only 1%, compared to the national rate of 10.1%.
- Although it may not be available for every major, the doctor's degree is the highest award a student can attain at Brown.
- In 2017-2018, 90% of the faculty were full-time.
- After graduation, Brown bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $67,500 a year. That's about 65% more than their peers at other schools.
- It takes the average Brown student 4.1 years to graduate. This is pretty good when compared to the national rate of 4.4 years.
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Brown University Rankings
We have ranked Brown as #13 out of 2,320 colleges and universities in the country in our 2021 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 1% of all schools in the nation! Brown also holds the #1 spot on the Best Colleges in Rhode Island ranking.
Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.
Brown has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.
Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
---|---|---|
#7 | Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#9 | Best Master’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#11 | Best Doctor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#163 | Most Popular Doctor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#262 | Most Popular Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#277 | Most Popular Master’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Brown.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards Brown has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#1 | Best Computer Science Schools | Computer Science Degree |
#3 | Best Colleges for Mathematics & Statistics | College Factual |
#5 | Best Colleges for English Language & Literature | College Factual |
#6 | Best Colleges for History | College Factual |
#7 | Best Colleges for Computer & Information Sciences | College Factual |
#8 | Best Colleges for Social Sciences | College Factual |
Where Is Brown University?

Contact details for Brown are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | One Prospect Street, Providence, RI 02912 |
Phone: | 401-863-1000 |
Website: | www.brown.edu |
Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/BrownUniversity |
Twitter: | https://twitter.com/BrownUniversity |
How Do I Get Into Brown?
You can apply to Brown online at: https://www.commonapp.org
Admission Requirements for Brown
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | recommended |
High School Rank | recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | recommended |
Recommendations | required |
SAT or ACT Scores | required |
TOEFL | recommended |
How Hard Is It To Get Into Brown?
Approximately 46% of accepted students are men and 54% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 10%, and the acceptance rate for women is 8%.
Average Test Scores
About 55% of students accepted to Brown submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 705 and 780. Math scores were between 700 and 790.
Can I Afford Brown University?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Brown, approximately 25% of students took out student loans averaging $8,232 a year. That adds up to $32,928 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Brown is 1.0%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
Brown University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 3,173 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 6,826 full-time undergraduates at Brown, 48% are male and 52% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of Brown University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 1,138 |
Black or African American | 462 |
Hispanic or Latino | 755 |
White | 2,915 |
International Students | 792 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 764 |
Geographic Diversity
Rhode Island students aren't the only ones who study at Brown University. At this time, 49 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 117 countries are represented at Brown. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and Canada.
Brown University Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By Ad Meskens under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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