Veterans Applying to Brown University

In an effort to double the number of undergraduate veterans on campus in the years to come, Brown University has announced that veterans of America’s military will now be able to apply under their need-blind admissions policy. Previously, Brown’s “need-blind” policy only applied to “first-year, first-time US citizens, permanent residents, as well as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and undocumented students who attend high school in the U.S,” according to Brown’s admissions website. The school will also increase the value of Yellow Ribbon scholarships for America’s veterans — which are currently capped at $10,000 — and cover all of their out-of-pocket expenses toward tuition and fees. And in an effort to make it easier for veterans to apply, the school is eliminating the standardized testing requirement for vets beginning in the 2020-2021 academic year.

Brown Seeks to Double Veteran Enrollment

As our loyal readers know well, we dutifully report on any changes implemented by universities that relate to America’s veterans as it’s a core objective of our college admissions blog — and our firm’s mission — to increase the number of veterans on America’s elite college campuses. And while we applaud each and every one of these moves by Brown’s administration, let us point out that there are currently a mere 21 undergraduate veterans on Brown’s campus. With a total undergraduate enrollment of 7,043, we’d argue that’s rather pitiful. And while Brown has made major strides in seeking to admit veterans over the last several years — as its venerable Office of Military-Affiliated Students loves to point out to us — it doesn’t change the fact that only 21 of Brown’s current undergraduates served our nation in uniform.

Brown Goes Need-Blind For Veterans, Which Means Little

And with respect to Brown going “need-blind,” well, we don’t believe that announcement is worth the paper it’s written on. After all, if Brown were truly “need-blind,” then why on Brown’s supplement does the school specifically ask students: “Do you intend to apply for need-based financial aid from Brown?” Why can the very people who are “blindly” evaluating a student’s case for admission see the yes / no answer to this prompt? Could any scientist conducting a blinded study get away with doing the same? We don’t think so. It would be scientifically unsound. But what do we know about science? We know about college admissions. And “need-blind admissions” is — as we’ve long argued — a lie.

But We Salute Brown’s Other Admissions Changes Impacting Veterans

Nonetheless, we absolutely applaud Brown’s announcement that the school seeks to double veteran enrollment. We applaud Brown’s announcement that it’ll cover costs not covered by the Post-9/11 GI Bill. And, last but certainly not least, we applaud Brown’s announcement to no longer require veterans to submit standardized test scores, a move that, in itself, could lead to a surge in applications from the men and women who have served our nation in uniform. It’s been our experience that many of our nation’s veterans don’t have SAT / ACT scores and if they do have scores, they’re from years ago — and they’re not all that reflective of the applicant’s abilities at present.