An Ivy League research university in Providence, RI, admitting 5.4% of applicants and the only Ivy with no required courses.
Providence, Rhode Island
Brown University is a private R1 research university in Providence, Rhode Island, founded in 1764. It enrolls 7,226 undergraduates and 4,046 graduate students across the College, the School of Public Health, the School of Engineering, and graduate programs in the arts and sciences. Social sciences, computer science, biology, and engineering account for the largest share of degrees. Brown holds a Doctoral University: Very High Research Activity (R1) Carnegie classification and is accredited through the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE).
The defining feature of Brown's undergraduate program is the Open Curriculum: there are no distribution requirements and no required courses outside a student's concentration. Students design their own course of study, choose how to be graded (standard letter grades or Satisfactory/No Credit on any course), and earn a degree by completing the requirements of their concentration and a writing requirement.
Official website: brown.edu
UCD scores every college on four pillars: Outcomes, Value, Affordability, and Selectivity. Within peer group A (four-year selective institutions), Brown scores 83.66 overall, rated Strong. Outcomes (98.91) and Selectivity (98.82) reflect a 95.69% six-year graduation rate and a 5.4% admit rate. Affordability scores 17.15, the weakest pillar, driven by an average net price of $25,184 and a 9.59% federal loan rate. Value scores 79.28. All scores use verified federal data only.
Brown is among the most selective universities in the country, admitting 5.4% of applicants. Brown is test-optional; submitting SAT or ACT scores is not required. Students who submit scores typically average 1,546 on the SAT, with the middle 50% scoring between 34 and 35 on the ACT.
Brown offers binding Early Decision with a November 1 deadline; admitted ED students must enroll and withdraw other applications. The Regular Decision deadline is January 3. Brown's admissions review is holistic and places weight on intellectual curiosity, fit with the Open Curriculum, and the student's demonstrated interest in designing their own academic path.
Acceptance rate over the last five admission cycles. The trend tells you whether Brown University is getting harder, easier, or staying about the same.
Brown charges $71,412 in tuition plus $17,444 in room and board, bringing the estimated total cost of attendance to approximately $91,000 before aid. Brown meets 100% of demonstrated financial need for admitted U.S. students, with no loans in aid packages.
For families earning under $30,000, attendance is effectively free; the average net price in that bracket is $0 after grants fully cover costs. For families earning between $30,001 and $48,000, the average net price is $2,031. The average net price across all students is $25,184. For families earning between $75,001 and $110,000, the net price averages $16,219. For families earning above $110,000, it averages $44,937.
Published cost of attendance, the sticker price before grants and scholarships. Most students underestimate room & board and other expenses.
Application fee: $75 (one-time, due at submission)
Aid is need-based, so net price varies by family income. Here's what each bracket typically pays after grants and scholarships.
Cumulative federal-loan debt across the full borrowing distribution. The 10th and 90th percentiles bracket the typical range; the median sits in the middle.
Median federal-loan debt at graduation broken down by demographic. Each slice's size is proportional to the dollar amount that group typically borrows.
Brown completes the large majority of the students it enrolls. The six-year graduation rate is 95.69% for full-time, first-time bachelor's-seeking students. The four-year rate is 90.92%, and first-year retention stands at 98.74%. The Open Curriculum does not require students to complete courses in any particular sequence, which gives students flexibility but also means degree completion depends more on individual planning than at schools with a prescribed core.
Brown graduates earn above the national median for private research universities. Median earnings are $79,131 six years after first enrolling and $93,487 at ten years. At the ten-year mark, 91.64% of former students earn more than a typical high school graduate.
Brown's federal loan rate of 9.59% is lower than at most peer Ivies, and median debt of $11,428 is among the lowest of any Ivy League institution, a sign that Brown's no-loan aid policy is reaching a significant share of students. Graduate-school pipelines in medicine, law, and academia are strong at Brown, and many graduates' earnings peak later than the ten-year window captures.
Median annual earnings 6, 8, and 10 years after students first enrolled.
Mean annual earnings 10 years after entry, segmented by demographic. Reveals gaps the headline median can't show.
Median earnings for female grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Median earnings for male grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Earnings of grads from the bottom-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the middle-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the top-third of family incomes at entry.
Share of completer-cohort borrowers paying down at least $1 of principal at the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 7-year mark. Climbing rates show graduates settling into careers and managing debt; flat or declining rates are a warning.
Brown enrolls 7,226 undergraduates on College Hill in Providence, Rhode Island, a small city of approximately 190,000 on the Providence River. White students account for 32.92% of undergraduates; Asian 22.88%, Hispanic 12.12%, and Black 8.18%. Thirteen percent of undergraduates receive Pell grants, and 17.04% are first-generation college students.
Providence is a real city with a developed arts, food, and cultural scene, and Brown students have direct access to it in ways that students at rural Ivy campuses do not. RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) is directly adjacent to Brown's campus, and cross-registration between the two schools is available.
Undergraduate student body composition reported to the US Department of Education.
Where students live, learn, and connect at Brown University. The campus setting, housing profile, and signals that shape day-to-day life here.
Brown University offers an extensive catalog of programs: 131 distinct programs across 21 majors. Below are its strongest majors, each with flagship programs and typical earnings. Open a major to explore it in depth, or browse the full program catalog.
Brown operates at a 6:1 student-to-faculty ratio. 92.43% of instruction is delivered by full-time faculty, one of the higher rates among Ivy League institutions. Instructional spending per full-time equivalent student is $42,520 per year. The endowment stands at $6.72 billion, the smallest of any Ivy League university. Despite the smaller endowment relative to peers, Brown has maintained its no-loan financial aid policy and competitive faculty quality, though the resource base for facilities and research investment is narrower than at institutions with ten-figure endowments.
1,001 instructional faculty across 5 ranks. The rank mix shows how many senior faculty are teaching versus contingent or junior staff, with average salary equated to a 9-month contract.
| Rank | Faculty Count | Share | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Professors | 429 | 43% | $209,416 |
| Associate Professors | 176 | 18% | $139,189 |
| Assistant Professors | 177 | 18% | $117,408 |
| Lecturers | 107 | 11% | $100,276 |
| No Rank | 112 | 11% | $98,582 |
Brown's defining strength is the Open Curriculum, which gives undergraduates a level of academic freedom unavailable at any other Ivy League institution. Outcomes (98.91) and Selectivity (98.82) are near the top of the Ivy tier, and median debt of $11,428 is among the lowest in the peer group. The challenges are tied to endowment: at $6.72 billion, Brown has the smallest endowment in the Ivy League, which limits the depth of financial aid for middle-income families and per-student resource investment compared to Harvard, Princeton, or Yale.
The average net price of $25,184 is better than Penn, Duke, Dartmouth, or Northwestern, but notably higher than UChicago ($14,860) or Princeton ($6,128). Best fit for students who want academic self-direction, are ready to design their own program without external structure, and qualify for substantial financial aid; middle-income families without strong aid eligibility face a high sticker-to-net-price gap.
The questions below address what students and families most commonly search about Brown: what the Open Curriculum means in practice, how selective admissions are, how financial aid compares to peer Ivies, and what graduates earn.
Four colleges that admit roughly 9 in 10 applicants post higher 10-year earnings than the lowest-earning Ivy. Selectivity is not destiny. Here is the list.
One federal dataset, 3,839 colleges. The median school costs $16,371 a year, admits 78% of applicants, and enrolls 1,259 students. The shape of US higher ed.
Across 1,645 four-year colleges, graduation rates climb steadily with selectivity, from 54% at open-admission schools to 93% at the most exclusive. The gap is real.
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