Brown
GPA explained
Brown does not have a GPA
Brown does NOT compute a GPA at all. Under its Open Curriculum, Brown discontinued grade point averages and class rank in 1969-70.
So there is no number for this page to calculate — and any "GPA" a generic calculator shows you for this school is a self-made estimate, not an official figure.
How Brown University grading works
Brown is fundamentally different: in keeping with the Open Curriculum, Brown does not compute students' grade point averages, and there is no class rank or Dean's List. Courses are graded A/B/C with No Credit (no D, no minus grades affecting a GPA), or Satisfactory/No Credit. A 'No Credit' isn't recorded on your external transcript at all. So there is no Brown GPA to calculate — any number you see from a generic 'Brown GPA calculator' is a self-made estimate, not an official figure.
Grade options
Brown uses grade options (ABC/No Credit and Satisfactory/No Credit). Courses not satisfactorily completed receive No Credit, which is not recorded on the external transcript.
Latin honors at graduation
Brown University awards Latin honors by rank in the graduating class, not by a fixed GPA, so the GPA that earns each honor moves from year to year.
| Honor | Requirement |
|---|---|
| magna cum laude | no more than 20% of the graduating class each year |
university-wide (only one Latin honor exists at Brown)
Dean’s List
Brown University does not maintain a Dean’s List.
Academic probation and dismissal
Academic warning / serious warning / academic suspension: not GPA-based; determined by course credits earned per semester falling below a published good-standing schedule.
Dismissal: students who earn no course credits in a semester, or fewer than five course credits across two sequential semesters, are eligible for academic suspension.
Sources
Every figure on this page was read on one of these pages, all published by Brown University itself. Nothing here comes from a ranking site or an aggregator.
- college.brown.edu — Latin honors.
- college.brown.edu — academic standing.
What to do when an application asks for a GPA
Because Brown reports no GPA, submit your official transcript and let the institution or a credential service read it on its own terms. If a form forces a number, some students compute an unofficial estimate from their letter grades — but label it clearly as unofficial. International applicant converting marks the other way? Use the CGPA to US GPA (WES) tool.