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Brown University

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Brown University Overview

Located in Providence, Rhode Island, Brown University is a private not-for-profit institution. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life.

What Is Brown University Known For?

2,182 Undergraduate Awards
$58,057 Avg Cost After Aid
8% Acceptance Rate
  • Students at Brown may have an easier time interacting with their teachers since the student to faculty ratio at the school is 6 to 1.
  • The student loan default rate at Brown is 2%, which is significantly lower than the national rate of 10.1%. That's great news for students who are worrying about paying off their student loans.
  • 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.
  • A student who earns a bachelor's degree from Brown makes roughly $67,500 a year. This is 65% more than their peers from other colleges and universities.
  • The average Brown student graduates in 4.2 years. That's better than the national average of 4.4 years.

Best Schools

Brown University Rankings

We have ranked Brown as #34 out of 2,587 colleges and universities in the country in our 2022 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 5% 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
#26 Best Doctor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#31 Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#35 Best 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.

Rank Ranking Name Share
#4 Best Mathematics & Statistics Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#6 Best Computer & Information Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#7 Best Business, Management & Marketing Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#11 Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#11 Best Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#12 Best Natural Resources & Conservation Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#14 Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#18 Best Health Professions Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#30 Best Education Master’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#30 Best Biological & Biomedical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards Brown has earned from around the web.

Rank Ranking Name Source
#3 Best Mathematics & Statistics Schools College Factual
#9 Best Computer & Information Sciences Schools College Factual
#13 Best Business, Management & Marketing Schools College Factual
#15 Best Healthcare Schools Healthcare Degree Search
#16 Best Health Professions Schools College Factual
#22 Best Education Schools College Factual

Where Is Brown University?

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Contact details for Brown are given below.

Contact Details
Address: One Prospect Street, Providence, RI 02912
Phone: 401-863-1000
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 required
Recommendations required
SAT or ACT Scores considered but not required
TOEFL recommended

How Hard Is It To Get Into Brown?

8% Acceptance Rate
51% Of Accepted Are Women
71% Submit SAT Scores
With an acceptance rate of 8%, Brown is one of the most selective schools in the country. If the admissions department requests additional materials, be sure to submit them promptly. This could be a sign that you're on the border line of being accepted or denied.

Approximately 49% of accepted students are men and 51% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 9%, and the acceptance rate for women is 7%.

Average Test Scores

About 71% 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 710 and 770. Math scores were between 730 and 790.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for Brown University  ( 710 to 770 )
200
800

SAT Math Scores for Brown University  ( 730 to 790 )
200
800
Brown received ACT scores from 43% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 34 and 36. Math scores were between 30 and 35. Composite scores were between 33 and 35.

ACT English Scores for Brown University  ( 34 to 36 )
1
36
ACT Math Scores for Brown University  ( 30 to 35 )
1
36
ACT Composite Scores for Brown University  ( 33 to 35 )
1
36

Can I Afford Brown University?

$58,057 Net Price
13% Take Out Loans
2.1% Loan Default Rate
The overall average net price of Brown is $58,057. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Brown, approximately 13% of students took out student loans averaging $9,671 a year. That adds up to $38,684 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Brown is 2.1%. 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

6,605 Full-Time Undergraduates
53% Women
44% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
There are 6,792 undergraduate students at Brown, with 6,605 being full-time and 187 being part-time.

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There are also 3,156 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 6,605 full-time undergraduates at Brown, 47% are male and 53% are female.

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Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 1,224
Black or African American 478
Hispanic or Latino 734
White 2,744
International Students 733
Other Races/Ethnicities 692

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.

Online Learning at Brown University

5,520 Took All Classes Online
8,626 Took At Least One Class Online
In 2019-2020, 8,626 students took at least one online class at the school.

Brown University Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major Bachelor’s Master’s Doctor’s TOTAL
Computer Science 229 107 9 345
Economics 203 13 15 231
Applied Mathematics 178 8 10 196
Medicine 0 0 137 137
General Engineering 65 56 15 136
Public Health 53 73 6 132
Public Policy 60 55 0 115
Area Studies 78 20 7 105
General Biology 93 6 0 99
History 87 4 6 97
Political Science & Government 78 9 4 91
General English Literature 76 1 6 83
International Relations & National Security 79 0 0 79
Child Development & Psychology 70 5 2 77
Physics 27 32 11 70
Neurobiology & Neurosciences 62 1 6 69
Writing Studies 53 13 0 66
Entrepreneurial Studies 57 0 0 57
Communication & Media Studies 45 5 5 55
Fine & Studio Arts 49 2 1 52
Chemistry 20 13 15 48
Geological & Earth Sciences 26 10 11 47
Biomedical Engineering 14 23 8 45
Drama & Theater Arts 18 22 2 42
Human Biology 41 0 0 41
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics 9 21 8 38
Business Administration & Management 0 38 0 38
Sociology 24 5 8 37
Natural Resources Conservation 36 0 0 36
Interdisciplinary Studies 32 3 0 35
Music 29 0 4 33
Data Science 0 32 0 32
Medical Science 0 29 0 29
Philosophy 25 0 4 29
Science, Technology & Society 13 15 0 28
Urban Studies 25 0 0 25
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology 24 0 0 24
General Education 24 0 0 24
Linguistics & Comparative Literature 20 2 2 24
Mathematics 15 2 6 23
Anthropology 18 0 5 23
Security Science and Technology 0 22 0 22
Computer Information Systems 21 0 0 21
Cognitive Science 17 2 2 21
Classical Languages & Literature 16 2 2 20
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology 0 11 8 19
Ethnic Studies 11 6 2 19
Biotechnology 0 14 1 15
Historic Preservation 0 15 0 15
Behavioral Science 13 1 0 14
Teacher Education Subject Specific 0 13 0 13
General Architecture 12 0 0 12
Educational Administration 0 12 0 12
Religious Studies 10 2 0 12
Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences 0 2 8 10
Romance Languages 5 3 1 9
Archeology 6 1 1 8
Statistics 6 0 0 6
Classical & Ancient Studies 1 1 4 6
Physiology & Pathology Sciences 0 0 5 5
Health Sciences & Services 0 0 5 5
Other Social Sciences 5 0 0 5
Pharmacology & Toxicology 0 1 2 3
Medieval Studies 3 0 0 3
Engineering Physics 1 0 0 1
Molecular Medicine 0 0 0 0
Business/Managerial Economics 0 0 0 0
Information Technology 0 0 0 0
Multilingual Education 0 0 0 0
Teacher Education Grade Specific 0 0 0 0
South Asian Languages 0 0 0 0
Bioethics/Medical Ethics 0 0 0 0
Mathematics & Computer Science 0 0 0 0
Museum Studies 0 0 0 0
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies 0 0 0 0
Astronomy & Astrophysics 0 0 0 0
General Psychology 0 0 0 0
General Social Sciences 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 2,182 733 354 3,269

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.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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