Brown has always attracted distinctive students-exceptionally curious, unconventionally bright, and highly independent and self-motivated. In 2003, Brown welcomed its first class of undergraduates admitted under a new need-blind admission policy-affirming the University's commitment to opening its doors to the students most likely to thrive at Brown, regardless of their financial circumstances. Although the University has always offered many scholarships, now it is determined to do even more to ensure that top students of all backgrounds have access to Brown. The impact is already evident: 31 percent of the members of the Class of 2011 are from minority groups and 14 percent are the first in their families to attend college.
From a financial perspective, a commitment to need-blind admission for undergraduates is a bold undertaking, and the Campaign has already made significant steps to anchor this promise in fiscal reality by raising an unprecedented level of philanthropic support. The Campaign has also begun to enhance support for students of The Warren Alpert Medical School and Brown’s Graduate School, sustaining the scholars upon whom a world-class university depends to strengthen faculty research and teaching and to launch new research investigations.