Brown waives undergraduate application fee for Providence public school students

Brown will waive the undergraduate application fee for all students enrolled in Providence public high schools, beginning with this year’s application cycle. The fee waiver applies to seniors attending the 12 high schools in the Providence Public School District and over 10 other public and charter schools in the city.

Prospective students without waivers typically pay an $80 nonrefundable application fee when submitting an undergraduate application to Brown. 

The University has had a number of application fee waivers available for students who meet certain criteria, such as veterans and some students from rural areas. In 2017, the University began automatically waiving the application fee for students eligible for or enrolled in the Federal Free or Reduced Price Lunch program, as well as those in federal, state or local support programs targeted at low-income families.

Students may apply for a fee waiver if they don’t automatically receive one for being a member of one of the qualifying groups. 

According to Associate Provost for Enrollment and Dean of Undergraduate Admission Logan Powell, the fee waiver is intended to remove perceived barriers that hinder “any talented and interested applicant from a Providence public school” from applying to Brown. 

The fee waiver decision was not about growing the applicant pool, but rather ensuring that Brown is showing its commitment to public schools in Providence, he added.

“It’s really important that we need to take responsibility for the communication around accessibility and opportunity. And that’s what this is,” Powell said.

Powell emphasized Brown’s relationship with Providence public schools, highlighting the annual College Day at Brown event, which exposes Rhode Island high school students to opportunities in higher education. Admissions staff meet with schools’ counseling staff to discuss the admissions process and a designated Brown staff member from the admissions office also visits Providence public schools throughout the year.

“We do everything we can to stay in close contact with (Providence public schools),” Powell said, adding that if students are interested in Brown, “we want to make sure that they know that opportunity exists.”

PPSD Superintendent Javier Montanez wrote in an email to The Herald that the district appreciates Brown’s commitment to PPSD students and its drive to increase accessibility to higher education. Fee waivers send the message that “our students belong in these spaces and should pursue these opportunities,” he added.

Tara Shriram Fisler, a senior at Classical High School, said that they have noticed Brown’s efforts to connect with PPSD students. 

Fisler submitted their early decision application to Brown for the class of 2031 before Brown announced the fee waiver, so it did not affect their decision to apply. But Fisler believes that introducing the  fee waiver is a “great decision.”

“I imagine there are many PPSD students who would love the opportunity to go to Brown, but who don’t think they have a chance of getting in, so decide that it’s not worth applying,” they wrote in an email to The Herald. 

Esther Nyabally ’30, who graduated from Classical High School in 2026, also expressed appreciation for the application fee waiver.

“Students sometimes opt out of even applying because they are afraid of the possibility of paying and not getting in,” she wrote in an email to The Herald.

Going forward, Nyabally believes that Brown can further strengthen its relations with Providence public schools by “continuing to showcase their campus to students whilst trying to show them how they can receive support throughout their time here,” through methods such as highlighting the University’s financial aid policies.

Powell hopes that the fee waiver and other initiatives focused on Providence public school students will show potential applicants “that Brown could be the right fit for them regardless of their ability to pay,” he said.