Giving to Financial Aid

Support financial aid and scholarships for students at Brown. Your gift removes financial barriers and attracts brilliant students with diverse perspectives to our community of scholars.

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Investing in Talent, Transforming Lives

Supporting financial aid is the most powerful investment you can make in a student’s future. By removing financial barriers, your gift opens doors for the next generation of scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, and community leaders.

When the world’s most talented students consider where to attend college, we want Brown to be their answer. Your gift ensures that students of every financial background can choose Brown. Join us in making the dream of a Brown education a reality for exceptional students across the globe.

Members of the Class of 2029 wearing their cap and gowns walk down College Street during Procession while holding up their class banner.

Your Impact: Ensuring Access and Creating Opportunity

More than 20 years ago, Brown made a bold proclamation to implement need-blind admission. With donor support, the University has been able to greatly expand its resources for financial aid to help meet 100% of each student’s demonstrated need, including:

  • Expanding Student Support: More than 48% of undergraduate students received scholarship aid from Brown in 2025-26, with an average scholarship of $64,221, accounting for 69% of their overall cost to attend.
  • Eliminating Student Loans: The Brown Promise replaced all loans in University-offered financial aid packages with scholarships. In 2025-26, 58% of aided undergraduates benefited from The Brown Promise.
  • Funding for Graduate Scholars: The University guarantees a doctoral student five years of support, including stipends that are among the highest in the country and a generous set of benefits with comprehensive health and dental insurance.
  • Full Veteran Scholarships: The Veterans Financial Aid Initiative has raised more than $1.3 million in full scholarships for undergraduate student veterans.
  • Supporting International Students: After reaching the initial $120 million goal, Brown launched need-blind admission for international undergraduate students beginning with the Class of 2029.

But, there is still much work to be done. Financial aid remains one of the fastest growing areas of the University’s budget with a $6.5 million projected increase in undergraduate financial aid in 2026-27. A growing share of today’s students require need-based aid to finance their education, and further investment will allow Brown to respond more fully to that reality. Meeting this growing need requires the commitment and generosity of our community.

$ 229M

budget for need-based scholarships

48 %

undergraduates receiving financial aid

$ 64.5K

average University scholarship

During Academic Year 2025-26

How to Make Your Gift to Financial Aid

Immediate Impact: Brown Annual Fund

The Brown Annual Fund provides essential, flexible funding that is immediately available for the University’s most pressing priorities, especially financial aid. This is the fastest and most direct way to make an impact on a student’s life this academic year. You can make a gift to The Brown Fund or direct it to a specific scholarship within the Brown Annual Fund family.

Lasting Legacy: Endowed Scholarships

Endowed scholarships create a permanent and sustainable source of funding. Your endowed gift is invested, and a portion of the investment earnings is used each year, ensuring your generosity supports Brown students in perpetuity under a name of your choosing.

 

Contact for Endowed Scholarships

To discuss establishing a named endowed scholarship in support of financial aid, please contact:

Shelley Roth P’17, P’20

Director of Development for Academic Initiatives

Phone: +1 (401) 863-6592

Email: shelley_roth@brown.edu

Brown students have the curiosity and irrational courage to change the world. The innovative and constructive things that they will do, unburdened by student loans, over the next 20 to 30 years will be amazing to watch. It’s really cool to know that I get to be a small part of their journey.

Felix Lo ’01 financial aid donor
 
Felix Lo leans against a wooden wall outside.

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