PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Brown University received an all-time high number of applications from students wanting to be members of the Class of 2015. Dean of Admission James Miller says his office is processing approximately 31,000 applications, which is about a 3-percent increase over last year. Brown has experienced a 50-percent surge in applications over the last three years.

This year’s applicants are the most racially, ethnically, and geographically diverse pool in University history. Applicants hail from all 50 United States and 139 countries. This year also represents the highest-ever number of international applicants, about 4,800 students. The top countries represented outside of the United States include China, Korea, India, Pakistan, and Turkey.

“We are gratified and excited by Brown’s continuing appeal to an increasingly broad segment of the most talented students in America and from abroad. This year’s applicant pool, like those that have preceded it, is filled with remarkable young people of great promise and ability,” Miller said.

The majority of students intend to study social sciences or life and medical sciences. The most popular intended concentrations are biology, engineering, international relations, and economics. About 70 percent of applicants come from public schools, while 21 percent attend private schools. Sixty-seven percent of applicants are seeking financial aid.

Last year’s 20-percent surge of applicants forced the office to open a satellite facility in Alumnae Hall to accommodate the hundreds of boxes of paper file applications that would not fit in Corliss-Brackett House, the Office of College Admission’s facility on Prospect Street. This year, the office has transitioned to a completely electronic format.

“We are glad to be conducting this year’s admission cycle in a more efficient, environmentally friendly online imaging process, which has eliminated the need for us to print, track, and file more than 1 million individual pieces of paper,” Miller said.

Brown anticipates an incoming class of about 1,485 students. Admission offers will be made at the end of March.