Brown Pre-College Programs
Vision Statement
Brown University Pre-College Programs provide students with intellectually and socially formative and challenging experiences in and outside of the classroom. Our students learn with a diverse group of peers, instructors and staff in an academically rigorous environment aligned with Brown’s commitment to independent thinking, critical engagement and personal and community responsibility. Students leave their pre-college programs intellectually changed, with a deeper awareness of their own abilities and interests, a broadening of their knowledge of the great diversity of perspectives and experiences and an appreciation of how much more there is to learn.
Mission Statement
Brown University’s Pre-College Program provides students with an educational journey that mirrors what they can expect to experience as they apply to and attend college. Through a thoughtful application process, selection of courses from curricula representative of the best of liberal arts study and engagement with fellow students, instructors and staff who hail from varied backgrounds, students leave their programs with new knowledge, capacities, friends and a broader understanding of their world.
Overview
- Much like Brown’s undergraduate Open Curriculum, the University’s Pre-College Programs aim to create student-centered learning experiences
- Brown Pre-College Programs shift student focus away from formal grades and credits towards the learning itself.
- Over 300 courses are offered, ranging in length from one to six weeks and are designed and taught at a first-year college level on campus, online and in domestic and international locations.
- Brown Pre-College Programs attract roughly 6,000 exceptional, engaged and motivated high school students each year.
A more detailed program snapshot can be found here.
Pre-College Programs
Summer@Brown is the largest of Brown’s Pre-College Programs, featuring well over 200 non-credit courses offered in intensive sessions – both on campus and online – ranging from one to six weeks in duration over multiple terms across the summer. Courses offered span the broad range of academic disciplines at Brown, intentionally reflecting the breadth and depth of Brown’s undergraduate liberal arts curriculum. Courses are designed to expose high school students to first-year undergraduate content, with the attendant academic rigor, and are non-credit in order to encourage students to take risks and explore unfamiliar subjects.
Summer@Brown Online courses take advantage of the benefits of online learning and technology to bring together the best aspects of seminar-style learning in an asynchronous, mostly asynchronous or blended learning environment. Enriching extra-curricular programs – offered to both on-campus and online students – supplement the academic core of the program, providing students with broad exposure to the experience of learning as part of a college community. Students enrolling in these courses must have completed the 9th grade. Click here to learn more about Summer@Brown Online.
Summer@Brown: Course-Based Research Experiences (CREs) provide instructors the opportunity to guide Pre-College students through the process of proposing and conducting independent research, building from questions that are currently unanswered. Instructors interested in facilitating a Pre-College CRE will design a course that provides the student with a research challenge for which the answers are unknown, supports them in a five-week hybrid course and culminates in an opportunity for the student to present and disseminate their findings. The curriculum should be necessarily fluid, with students finding success and experiencing challenges as they progress – much like a true research experience. Students enrolling in these non-credit courses must have completed the 10th grade. Click here to learn more about CREs.
Summer@Brown Language in Context (LiC) courses offer students an opportunity to engage in language learning while studying a specific academic area or discipline. Course offerings include French, Spanish, Italian, American Sign Language as well as English for students interested in enhancing their command of English within a specific academic area or discipline. Language in Context instructors are familiar with the linguistic nuances of multilingual language learners, and develop their syllabi to include substantial opportunities for students to exercise their listening, public speaking, reading and academic writing skills. Students enrolling in these non-credit courses must have completed the 9th grade.
The Brown Environmental Leadership Lab (BELL) combines concepts in environmental studies, ecology and leadership with a mission of developing socially responsible leaders. BELL courses take place in a number of domestic locations including South Central Alaska, Mammoth Lake, California and Brown University’s Providence campus. At BELL, a small cohort of students develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to create positive change on environmental issues facing their local communities and the planet as a whole. BELL students engage with a wide variety of content, including work in environmental science, social science and leadership development. Students enrolling in these non-credit courses must have completed the 10th grade.
The Leadership Institute believes that all students have the capacity to effect positive change for their communities. This innovative program integrates three foundational components: study of a compelling academic topic, exploration of socially responsible leadership and development of a meaningful Action Plan. Courses – on campus and online – utilize an interdisciplinary approach to explore complex, contemporary social issues of pressing global interest. Brown faculty and graduate student instructors work closely with the program director to develop a course syllabus that effectively integrates and supports programmatic goals, including the development of an Action Plan. Students enrolling in these non-credit courses must have completed the 9th grade.
Brown Experiential Education - Programs (BEE) are immersive and rigorous academic experiences. Domestic and international program sites are carefully selected to enhance course content. The connection between site and course content offers a small cohort of students a rich experiential learning experience. The program’s interdisciplinary approach helps prepare students for the increasingly complex challenges of the 21st century by exploring the interconnectedness of the global community and exposing students to varied perspectives. Students enrolling in these non-credit courses must have completed the 10th grade.
STEM for Rising 9th and 10th Graders is an immersive academic experience that allows students to explore the STEM disciplines. Students can indulge their passion for learning as they dive into content in science, technology, engineering or mathematics focused courses. The courses provide students with some understanding of the foundational material for that discipline from which they can springboard to areas for exploration such as more advanced content or current areas of research. In addition to the academic experience, students participate in supplemental programming that promotes and supports social and academic growth as they prepare for success in their future academic experiences. The students spend time working on a comprehensive academic project and the program culminates in a final presentation of their work. Students enrolling in these non-credit courses must have completed the 8th grade.
Pre-Baccalaureate Program for rising or recently-graduated High School Seniors. Pre-baccalaureate students enroll in online credit-bearing courses alongside Brown and Visiting Students in the University’s undergraduate Summer Session.
Undergraduate Summer Session
Summer Session extends the undergraduate curriculum into a seven-week session in the summer. Offering a wide range of courses across the disciplines, Summer Session provides students with an intensive learning experience.
Learn More Here