Summer@Brown

Explore new paths and connect with different ways of thinking, seeing and doing.

If you could take a class in any subject, what would it be? No matter your answer, chances are you’ll find it at Summer@Brown. Choose from more than 230 non-credit courses reflecting the wide range of Brown University’s Open Curriculum that will challenge you with new perspectives on how you work, learn and live.

At a Glance

5,900+

Students

50

United States and Territories

80

Countries

With so many students from different locations, backgrounds and interests, studying at Summer@Brown you'll join a community of peers who bring broad and deep perspectives to living and learning together. 

Outside of class, you’ll participate in workshops, activities and events — scheduled from morning to night — that inform, engage and entertain. Along the way, you’ll make new friends from around the world and learn to live independently and responsibly: skills that will prepare you well for life in college and long after. 

Summer@Brown provides the opportunity to embrace the challenge of college-level academics without the pressure of formal grades and credit, in classes taught by instructors just as interested in your learning as you are, alongside students just as engaged as you.

What to Study?

Program Snapshot

Who

Students completing grades 9 to 12, ages 14 to 18 by June 15, 2025

What

Choose from over 230 courses in multiple 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-week on-campus and 5 week hybrid (2 weeks online and 3 weeks on campus) sessions

When

June 16 to July 25, 2025

Where

Brown University campus in Providence, Rhode Island

Why

  • Join a community of young scholars all engaged in the serious fun of learning.
  • Explore the breadth and depth of Brown’s undergraduate curriculum and its emphasis on student-centered learning.
  • Experience the satisfying challenges of college-level academics. 
  • Immerse yourself in subjects you choose. 
  • Engage in courses that allow you to conduct independent research.
  • Concentrate on learning without the pressure of formal grades.
  • All students who successfully complete their course will receive a Digital CeCertificate of Completion. Students who complete a 2-week or longer course will receive a Course Performance Report.

Experience

Taking part in Summer@Brown on Brown University’s campus in the heart of Providence, RI allows you to experience what college life and learning is like on an Ivy League campus. You have the opportunity to engage in an experience that in many ways mirrors that of first-year undergraduate study at Brown immersed in Brown’s student-centered approach to learning.

A Typical Day

You will be in class for three hours daily, five days a week – along with two- three additional hours of out-of-class work individually or with your classmates each day. Expect to be challenged and to engage with your instructor and fellow students through reciprocal inquiries, actively joining class discussions and group work as well as individual study. When and where you study is up to you. Summer@Brown provides you with the freedom and responsibility to determine when and how you will complete your out-of-class work while still engaging in Student Life activities, workshops and events taking place throughout each day. The program does not set your schedule, allowing students to begin to learn how best to manage their time in ways that will prepare you for your first year in college. No matter when your class meets – morning, early or late afternoon – you’ll have the opportunity to engage with students taking other courses through a variety of activities that help you grow as a student and as a person. See Life on the Brown Campus for more information.

Program Directors