Brown University

Location and Contact Information

The campus is in a medium-sized city.

Overview

Brown University, also referred to as Brown, is a private university located in Providence, Rhode Island, and a member of the Ivy League.

Brown was established in 1764 as the College of Rhode Island. Although having a Baptist affiliation, it was the first institution in the U.S to accept students regardless of religious affiliations. U.S.

There are nearly 9,000 students currently in the undergraduate college, graduate school and medical school--representing all 50 states and many foreign countries. For 2010, more than 18,000 students applied for 1,450 places in the freshman class.

News & World Report rankings (2008 edition) placed Brown, tied with Stanford, as the seventh most selective college in the nation.

Brown's campus consists of more than 230 buildings and sits on 143 acres. The library system contains more than 6,000,000 items.

The university offers a wide variety of degrees and programs through the following academic divisions:

• College and Graduate School
• Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women
• Warren Alpert Medical School
• Watson Institute for International Studies

Brown's uniquely self-directed undergraduate curriculum dates back to 1969-1970, when it was conceived by college-level students and ratified by the faculty.

Brown's campus is home to more than 300 registered student organizations. The university has an active Greek life; more than 12%students are members of various fraternities or sororities.

The Brown Bears compete in the Ivy League and against other colleges and universities at the NCAA Division I level. The university has one of the nation's broadest arrays of varsity teams--37 in all. Of these, 17 are for men, 19 for women (the nation's largest athletic program for women), and 1 coeducational. U.S. News and World Report recently named Brown athletics to the College Sports Honor Roll as one of the top 20 U.S. sports programs.

Among the famous alumni of Brown are Richard C. Holbrooke, top-level diplomatic, special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan under president Obama; Robert Conley, founder of NPR; Aaron T. Beck, father of cognitive behavioral therapy; John Hope, college president, founder of the Niagara Movement (became NAACP); Judith Jacobson, cofounder of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East; Otto Kerner, Governor of Illinois, chair of commission investigating race riots in 1960s; authors Nathaniel West, Susan Cheever; Erich Kunzel, conductor, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra; Mary Chapin Carpenter, Country singer-songwriter; Mark Donohue, professional racing driver; John V. Heisman, football player/coach, namesake of Heisman Trophy; Jeffrey Haynes, producer, "Law & Order"; Kathryn S. Fuller, former CEO, World Wildlife Fund; playwrights Burt Shevelove and Alfred Uhry; John D. Rockefeller, Jr., philanthropist; and Ted Turner, billionaire philanthropist who founded CNN, TBS, TNT, and TCM.

Highlights (vs. Other Schools)

• Many students concentrating in mathematics, science, liberal arts, medicine, engineering, and computer science and engineering.
• High percentage of students are from out-of-state.
• Selective admissions.
• High faculty salary.
• Large number of programs of study offered.
• High SAT scores (combined Verbal and Math).
• Good faculty-to-student ratio.
• Number of dorm rooms for students.
• Large number of students.
• High male/female ratio.
• High yield: the portion of accepted students who enroll.
• Racially diverse student body.

School characteristics:

• The school is private, not-for-profit.
• Academic calender: Semester.
• Carnegie classification: Doctoral/Research Universities, Extensive.

Features of note:

• The school offers a faculty tenure system.
• There are one or more libraries on-campus.
• Campus housing is available.
• Students have meal (board) plans.
• Students may study abroad.
• Part-time classes are available.

Similar Schools

Based on proprietary BrainTrack computer comparisons against all other US colleges, these schools appear to be most similar to Brown:

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Degrees Awarded (in 2009-2010)

Faculty

Tenure (2009-2010):

Students

Student enrollment was 8,318 in 2009-2010 (7,976 full-time equivalent).

About 48% of the freshmen class in 2009-2010 was male and women were 52% of the class.

Undergrads are 74% of enrolled students and graduate students are 26%.

Students under 25 years old represent 81% of the student body. About 1% of the school is at least 40 years of age.

Admissions Summary (2009-2010)

SAT Test Scores:

Room and Board

Brown provides on-campus housing for 4,643 of its 7,976 (full-time) students (as of 2009-2010). The school requires freshmen to live on campus.

Students may purchase a meal plan which includes 20 meals weekly.

Athletics

School sports include football, basketball, baseball, and track. The school is in the Ivy Group for major sports.

Graduate School Focus

Brown offers graduate (post-Bachelor) studies. The highest degree offered is the Doctorate (Research/Scholarship & Professional Practice).

Graduate offerings include medical degrees.The school's Graduate School Carnegie Classification is Comprehensive Doctoral With Medical/Veterinary.

Programs of Study

(Number of degrees in 2009-2010 in parentheses)

ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING (23 awarded)

• Architecture (BArch, BA/BS, MArch, MA/MS, PhD)

ART STUDIES (31 awarded)

• Art/Art Studies

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (73 awarded)

• Business/Managerial Economics
• Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneurial Studies
• Organizational Behavior Studies

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (82 awarded)

• Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services
• Computer and Information Sciences

CONSERVATION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (26 awarded)

• Environmental Science
• Environmental Studies

DRAMA AND PERFORMING ARTS (30 awarded)

• Acting
• Directing and Theatrical Production
• Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts

EDUCATION AND TEACHING (44 awarded)

• Bilingual and Multilingual Education
• Education
• Elementary Education and Teaching
• Social Studies Teacher Education
• Urban Education and Leadership

ENGINEERING (143 awarded)

• Archeology
• Biomedical/Medical Engineering
• Engineering Physics
• Engineering

FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK (48 awarded)

• Community Organization and Advocacy
• Public Policy Analysis

FINE ARTS (35 awarded)

• Art History, Criticism and Conservation
• Fine Arts and Art Studies

LIBERAL ARTS (789 awarded)

• African Studies
• American/United States Studies/Civilization
• Ancient Studies/Civilization
• Ancient/Classical Greek Language and Literature
• Anthropology
• Area Studies
• Classical/Ancient Mediterranean/Near Eastern Studies & Archaeology
• Classics/Classical Languages, Lit & Linguistics
• Comparative Literature
• Creative Writing
• Cultural Resource Management and Policy Analysis
• Development Economics and International Development
• East Asian Studies
• Econometrics and Quantitative Economics
• Economics
• English Language and Literature
• English Language and Literature/Letters
• Ethnic, Cultural Minority, and Gender Studies
• French Language and Literature
• French Studies
• German Language and Literature
• German Studies
• Hispanic-American,Puerto Rican & Mexican-American/Chicano Studies
• History
• International Relations and Affairs
• Italian Language and Literature
• Italian Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Latin Language and Literature
• Linguistics
• Medieval and Renaissance Studies
• Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies
• Museology/Museum Studies
• Near and Middle Eastern Studies
• Political Science and Government
• Portuguese Language and Literature
• Sanskrit/Classical Indian Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
• Slavic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics
• Slavic Studies
• Social Sciences
• Sociology
• South Asian Studies
• Spanish Language and Literature
• Urban Studies/Affairs
• Women's Studies

MATHEMATICS (109 awarded)

• Applied Mathematics
• Mathematics and Computer Science
• Mathematics
• Statistics

MEDIA (22 awarded)

• Mass Communication/Media Studies

MEDICAL ADMINISTRATION (25 awarded)

• Community Health and Preventive Medicine

MEDICINE (172 awarded)

• Medical Scientist (MS, PhD)
• Medicine (MD)
• Neuroscience
• Public Health, General (MPH, DPH)
• Public Health

MUSIC (22 awarded)

• Music
• Musicology and Ethnomusicology

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY (42 awarded)

• Jewish/Judaic Studies
• Philosophy
• Philosophy and Religious Studies
• Religion/Religious Studies

SCIENCE (334 awarded)

• Atomic/Molecular Physics
• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics
• Biological and Biomedical Sciences
• Biology/Biological Sciences
• Biophysics
• Biostatistics
• Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology
• Chemical Physics
• Chemistry
• Epidemiology
• Geochemistry
• Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences
• Geology/Earth Science
• Geophysics and Seismology
• Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography
• Pathology/Experimental Pathology
• Physics
• Science, Technology and Society
• Theoretical and Mathematical Physics

THERAPY AND COUNSELING (65 awarded)

• Bioethics/Medical Ethics
• Cognitive Psychology and Psycholinguistics
• Cognitive Science
• Psychology