Brown Pre-College Programs
Vision Statement
Brown University Pre-College Programs provide students 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, our Pre-College Programs aim to create student-centered learning experiences and shift student focus away from formal grades and credits towards the learning itself.
- Over 300 courses are offered, ranging in length from one to five weeks and are designed and taught at a first-year college level.
- Brown Pre-College Programs attract roughly 6,000 exceptional, engaged and motivated high school students each year.
Pre-College Program Areas
Summer@Brown is the largest of Brown’s Pre-College Program Areas, 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 to explore unfamiliar subjects. 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 learning environment. A robust extra-curricular program – offered to both on campus and online students – supplements the academic core of the program, providing students with broad exposure to the experience of living and learning as part of a college community. Students enrolling in these courses must have completed the 9th grade and are drawn from all 50 United States and some 70 countries worldwide.
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 by science. Instructors interested in facilitating a Pre-College CRE will design a course that provides the student 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 failure as they progress – much like a true research lab. Click here to learn more about CREs.
Summer@Brown for English Language Learning offers courses across a broad range of academic disciplines, taught by instructors proficient in teaching non-native speakers of English. Instructors teaching these courses are familiar with the linguistic challenges of English language learners, and develop their syllabi to include substantial opportunities for students to exercise their listening, public speaking, reading and academic writing skills.
Brown Environmental Leadership Lab (BELL) combines concepts in environmental studies, ecology and leadership, with a mission of developing socially responsible leaders. At BELL, 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. Lessons focus on experiential and place-based learning, drawing on the environment surrounding the student as a living laboratory where they can explore the concepts introduced and discussed in the course. Students enrolling in these non-credit courses must have completed the 9th grade, and are drawn from all 50 United States and some 70 countries worldwide.
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, and are drawn from all 50 United States and some 70 countries worldwide.
Location-Based Programs are immersive and rigorous academic experiences. Program sites are carefully selected to enhance course content. The connection between site and course content offers students a rich experiential learning experience. The programs’ interdisciplinary approach help 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.
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.
Pre-Baccalaureate Program for rising or recently-graduated High School Seniors. Pre-Baccalaureate students enroll in credit courses alongside Brown and visiting undergraduates in the University’s 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 an intensive learning experience.