Please find below our most commonly asked admissions questions. If you have a question not addressed below, please send us an email.
Professional Master's Programs: professional@brown.edu
Online Master's Programs: onlinemasters_admissions@brown.edu
Executive Education and Mindfulness Education: execeducation@brown.edu
Application requirements and deadlines vary by program. We encourage you to explore our admissions requirements page for general information about the application process. There, you will also find links to individual program's admissions pages for more detailed instructions.
All applications to Brown are reviewed holistically by a faculty admissions committee. Applicants with GPAs below 3.0 are strongly advised to submit additional evidence demonstrating academic potential.
We do not require GRE or GMAT scores for admission to our master's programs.
Applicants are encouraged to upload unofficial transcripts to their applications for review. If admitted, official transcripts sent from all undergraduate/graduate school's registrar's office will be required as part of the enrollment process.
We require three (3) letters of recommendation. At least one of these letters should come from your present or past supervisor, or from a senior executive in your organization. We encourage recommenders to highlight your:
Our application fee is $200 and payable online.
Application fee waivers are available to Active Military and Veterans for the Master's in Healthcare Leadership and Master's in Technology Leadership programs. Please contact professional@brown.edu for more information.
For online master's programs, the application fee is $100, and all app fees are waived if you apply by the early decision deadline.
Select applicants are invited to interview once all application components are received and reviewed by our faculty admissions committee. Interviews are typically held via web conferencing platform.
We currently require a non-refundable $1,500 deposit (payable online) to reserve your seat in our Healthcare Leadership and Technology Leadership master's programs. The enrollment deposit for the IE Brown Executive MBA is $13,500 and submitted directly to IE Business School.
For online master's programs, a $500 deposit is required.
Due to the curated nature of our curriculum—offered in a blended low-residency and online format—unfortunately, we do not accept transfer credits.
For online master’s programs, the transfer credit policy varies by program. Please reach out to onlinemasters_admissions@brown.edu to inquire.
Yes, we do. Please click on your program of interest below:
Due to the low-residency format of our programs, residential sessions are an important component of the academic and professional networking experience in our programs. Participation in these sessions is required.
For the online master's programs, a 3-day residential session is offered to enhance the experience, but not required.
Grades are most often based on reading assignments, papers, group projects and the completion of your capstone project. Please note, not all programs have capstone projects.
Brown University (and IE Business School for the Executive MBA program) shares a list of preferred hotels with students. As travel and accommodations are arranged individually and not included in tuition & fees, we encourage students to seek accommodations that meet their needs and budget.
If your program includes an immersion experience, you will need to stay in the designated hotel provided by the program team for that residential stay.
A typical cohort ranges from 25-45 students depending on program and varies from year-to-year and classes. Some online programs can have a larger number of students. The professional master's programs follow a cohort model, while the online programs do not.
The professional master's programs do require pre-work. Typically one month prior to the start of our programs, students are provided access to the online learning portal for pre-work readings and assignments.
For the online programs, students get access to their course about 1-2 weeks prior to semester start, but pre-work is not required.
Due to the curated nature of our curriculum—offered in a blended low-residency and online format—unfortunately, we do not offer elective courses at this time. We encourage you to view the curriculum pages of our programs to view their dynamic coursework offerings.
You will begin and finish your classes in person. For example, at the beginning of the program during your first residential session, you will begin your coursework. At the conclusion of the residential session, you will then continue coursework online. At your next residential session, you will conclude the classes you started and begin new ones. This format continues throughout the program.
*Please note, this does not apply to online programs.
Our programs do not require a thesis, though for most programs, students are required to propose and complete a capstone project as part of their learning experience. Students are asked to identify a critical challenge for an organization, drawing from the student’s own work experience. Under the direction of a faculty member, the student analyzes this critical challenge from multiple perspectives and develops a comprehensive plan for addressing it.
Please refer to your program of choice to see if you will be required to complete a capstone.
Our online platforms are very user-friendly. Brown's programs are offered through Canvas, and IE Business School (our joint Executive MBA) uses Campus.
Due to the low-residency and online format of our programs, our programs are designed for working professionals. Our Master's in Management program is created for those with little to no working experience, so students do not have to be employed during this program.
Brown University has over 100,000 alumni and offers robust support for its graduates. We encourage you to visit our alumni resources page for more information about alumni benefits.
Residential sessions vary by program; we encourage you to research the program schedule on your program's website. On average, you can anticipate 15-20 hours of online coursework per week when not in a residential session. *Residential sessions do not apply to online master's programs.
Every 10 years, Brown undergoes a process of reaccreditation by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE). Brown’s reaccreditation occurred in the Spring of 2018.
The IE Brown Executive MBA is additionally accredited by AACSB, AMBA, and EQUIS.
The majority of students are self-supported and/or supported in part by their employers. We encourage master's applicants to maximize funding sources, detailed on the funding opportunities page.
Military applicants are encouraged to research benefits eligibility for the Post-9/11 GI Bill®; Brown University School of Professional Studies is also a proud participant of the Yellow Ribbon Program.
We require a Certificate of Eligibility (COE). Within your COE application, you may use print-outs of your WAVE Benefits Status page or your eBenefits Education page in lieu of an award letter or Certificate of Eligibility (COE).
Unfortunately only the application fee and Brown's enrollment deposit are payable by credit card. Tuition payments must be paid with check/electronic check.
Students in the IE Brown Executive MBA work directly with IE Business School for tuition payments arrangements, which differ slightly from Brown.
Yes, Brown University accepts employer vouchers that are not contingent upon receipt of grades. Students whose employers or sponsors reimburse them for tuition and fees after receipt of grades must pay in full upon receipt of the Student Account Statement to avoid interest, late fees, and/or cancellation of registration. Under all circumstances, the charges for tuition and fees remain the responsibility of the student.
At this time, we do not offer I-20 certificates for students in the Technology Leadership master's programs due to their blended low-residency/online program formats. Other visa types are not supported for studying in the United States.
The IE Brown Executive MBA is an authorized F-1 program and can issue I-20s to qualified international students to attend the Brown-hosted sessions in United States. It is the student’s responsibility to obtain the F-1 entry visa from the Department of State.
For the Healthcare Leadership master's program, Brown will issue an I20 visa which is valid only for the times of the residential periods that take place in Providence, Rhode Island. You will need two I20’s issued during the program, which Brown will help you facilitate. To be considered, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), is mandatory for all international applicants (unless you have earned a 4-year degree from a university in the United States). We require a minimum score of 105 on the TOEFL internet-based exam or a minimum score of 7.5 on the IELTS.
Brown's online master's programs do not issue F1 visas.
Brown University strongly encourages students to pay via FlyWire if they are wiring funds to Brown from an international bank. Please note the visa requirements above, and that IE Brown Executive MBA students pay tuition directly to our academic partner, IE Business School.
Our commitment to educational innovation, diversity and inclusion, collaboration and making an impact in the world is at the core of what we do.