PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — On Thursday, Dec. 12, Brown University invited 800 prospective students who applied through its early decision program to become the first members of its undergraduate Class of 2024.
The pool of 4,562 early decision applicants marked the University’s largest to date. Applications through the program increased 8% compared to the Class of 2023 and by more than 40% over the last three years. The three-year increase coincides with the launch of The Brown Promise initiative, which replaced loans with scholarship funds in all University-packaged undergraduate financial aid awards beginning in the 2018-19 school year.
“Superlatives don’t begin to capture the strength, talent and diversity of this cohort of admitted early decision students,” said Dean of Admission Logan Powell. “Their limitless potential reflects the University’s commitment to cultivating an academic community enriched by its members’ distinct experiences and accomplishments. We are excited to welcome this extraordinary group of scholars and leaders to the Brown family.”
Powell noted that the cohort reflects the University’s continually expanding array of initiatives aimed at making a Brown education more accessible to students from every socioeconomic background. Among this year’s admitted early decision students, 495 students (62%) applied for financial aid, a 14% increase from last year.
Among the 800 accepted students are 44 admitted through Brown’s partnership with QuestBridge, a national nonprofit that works to equalize access to top colleges and universities for high school students from low-income families; that number is up from 30 students in 2018 and just three as recently as four years ago.
Within this year’s early decision cohort, 17% of students will be first in their family to attend college, an increase from 11% last year. Among the accepted students, 44 percent are students of color, defined as those who self-identify as Black, Latinx, Native American, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or Asian.
Powell noted that this group of students accepted early decision is the first to include participants from the Office of Admission’s two-year pilot program to actively recruit more students from rural regions of the United States. Collectively, the accepted students represent 43 nations, 40 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The top countries represented outside the United States are China, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Canada and India.
Applicants were able to learn their application status beginning at 6 p.m. on Dec. 12 via a secure website. All early decision applicants indicated that Brown was their first-choice college and agreed to accept an offer of admission if the University extended one.
The deadline for regular decision applications for Brown’s undergraduate Class of 2024 is Jan. 2, 2020.