Brown University
Private Research University in Providence, RI. Six-year graduation rate 96%. Median 10-year earnings $93,487.
A decade after enrolling, the median Brown University student earns $93,487 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. Completion is a strength: 96% of students finish within six years. Graduates leave owing a median of $11,428 — modest by four-year standards.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.12 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 96% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Admit rate 5% — heavily selective, limited transfer slots
Admissions
This is a highly selective admit: 5% of applicants receive an offer. 48,904 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. Yield is high — 65% of admitted students go on to enroll, well above the typical rate. Read the score bands below as the middle 50% of submitted scores, not a threshold to clear.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 740–780 | 1,046 (61%) |
| SAT Math | 770–800 | |
| ACT Composite | 34–35 | 410 (24%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Brown University →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 96% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention of 99% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. The 6:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. With 7,741 undergraduates, the school sits in the middle of the size distribution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 7,273 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $26,256 annually once grants are applied. The income table below is the number that matters — $-420 at $0–30k versus $44,937 at $110k+. 52% of students receive grant aid, averaging $59,655 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 10% of students.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 1,695 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $-420 |
| $30–48k | $2,031 |
| $48–75k | $5,858 |
| $75–110k | $16,219 |
| $110k+ | $44,937 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 742 of these 7,273 students, totalling $4,366,999 — an average of $5,885 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Providence County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)