The Philosophy

Medium sized (4,000) private university in a very large city
Founded by Willian Rice in 1912
No core curriculum
No Greek life - everyone can attend everything

The Classes

Professors are approachable and relatable
Intro to bio can have up to 200 students, but with break out groups of 10

The Path

Financial Aid March 1, notified April 1

Students need to have something that really stands out on their application, but doesn't need to be academics
Architecture and music are the only majors you must apply into. Others can be transferred into
First year writing class (Pop Culture, War on Drugs) and one PE credit
3 distribution classes: Social Science, Natural Science, Humanities
Double majoring very common

The People

65% students of color
44% faculty of color
50% female faculty

The Aid

About 59% of students receive aid
Mostly scholarships and grants, small loans

One of the few top private colleges making serious efforts to keep tuition affordable. Rice is outstanding in engineering, architecture, the natural sciences, and music, and it is a national leader in entrepreneurship studies. With nearly 4,000 undergraduates, Rice is smaller than many applicants realize but plans to expand to 4,800 by 2025. In lieu of Greek life, Rice has a residential college system like Yale and Princeton.

Founded in 1912 by Texas cotton mogul William Marsh Rice, Rice University has stayed true to its mission of providing unsurpassed programs in natural sciences, engineering, the arts, and humanities-with a price tag most families can afford. With its top-notch programs in the liberal arts and sciences and huge endowment (used to keep tuition relatively modest), Rice is a good deal among top schools. It is the dominant university in the Southwest and second only to Duke in the entire South. Thanks to an aggressive growth plan and generous financial aid, the university continues to attract more and more top talent from around the country.

Rice was modeled after such disparate institutions as progressive, low-tuition Cooper Union and the more traditional Princeton University. Today, Rice boasts plenty of distinctive characteristics all its own. The predominant architectural theme of the campus, situated three miles from downtown Houston, is Spanish Mediterranean, and it’s surrounded by a row of hedges-the singular buffer between the quiet campus and the sounds of the city. A particular standout is the colorful Duncan Hall, designed by British architect John Outram. The new Brockman Hall for Opera features a 600-seat, European-style opera theater.

Rice has traditionally excelled in the natural sciences and engineering, and students majoring in these areas still dominate the student body. Architecture here is one of the finest undergraduate programs in the nation, and the physics and astronomy department works closely with NASA. Programs in computer science, engineering, kinesiology, and biosciences are popular, and economics and music are highly regarded. Business is only available as a minor; a new entrepreneurship minor, offered jointly through the School of Engineering and Rice’s well-established graduate business program, is also an option. Rice has a long tradition of encouraging double and even triple majors in such seemingly opposite fields as electrical engineering and art history. Under the area-major program, students can draw up proposals for independent interdisciplinary majors. All freshmen participate in a freshman writing program that is tailored, in part, to individual disciplines. Other distribution requirements are flexible: students take three courses each in the humanities, social sciences, and applied sciences/mathematics, choosing the courses that interest them most.

Courses are challenging, but for the most part, says a senior, “Students are almost always willing to help each other, creating a caring and supportive atmosphere.” Everyone operates under the honor system, and most exams go unsupervised. Class size rarely presents a problem; 69 percent have fewer than 20 students. Faculty members receive high marks, and full professors often teach freshmen. “One of my favorite things about Rice is how the professors are so invested in my learning,” says a kinesiology major. Under the Mellon Fellow program, selected humanities and social sciences majors may work with a faculty mentor on an academic project that offers a summer research stipend. Sixty-eight percent of undergrads complete at least one research experience by the time they graduate. About a quarter of students participate in 150 study abroad programs offered in 60 countries.

Students describe their classmates as friendly and quirky, and a senior says Rice students are “intellectual, but not navel-gazing.” Rice was founded to serve “residents of Houston and the state of Texas,” and 41 percent of undergraduates still hail from the Lone Star State. Most of the out-of-staters are transplanted from California, Florida, the Northeast, and other Southern states; 12 percent come from other countries. Twenty-six percent of undergraduates are Asian American, 16 percent are Hispanic, 7 percent are African American, and 5 percent are multiracial. “The political climate at Rice is pretty liberal, especially for a Texas school,” notes an engineering major.

Rice practices need-blind admissions (although it is need-aware for international students) and guarantees to meet the full demonstrated need of every admit. Merit scholarships averaging $20,300 are available to qualified students, and 241 athletic scholarships are awarded each year. The ambitious Rice Investment financial aid program makes tuition free for low-income and middle-class students. Undergraduates with an annual family income of up to $130,000 receive full-tuition grants, and those whose annual family income does not exceed $65,000 also qualify for grants that cover room, board, and mandatory fees. Additionally, students with family incomes between $130,001 and $200,000 are awarded half-tuition grants, and need-based loans have been eliminated for all students who qualify for the Rice Investment. A junior points out that “Rice has improved low-income accessibility by training faculty and staff on how to support first-generation and low-income students.”

Rice’s founder did not approve of elitist organizations, which means fraternities and sororities are no-nos on campus. Their functions are largely assumed by the 11 residential colleges, Rice’s version of dorms, which 70 percent of students call home. The housing system is based on the British residential college model. Every undergraduate is assigned to a residential college in the first year, and they remain a member of that college for all four years-even if they choose to live off campus at any time. Students praise the residential college system for giving everyone a sense of belonging to a relatively small community. The quality of housing “varies from OK to super nice,” according to one senior. Each residential college is connected to a “servery” (a.k.a. dining hall), and students can eat anywhere they please. “There’s a wide variety of options, so you can be as indulgent or as healthy as you want,” says a senior. Another student comments that “Campus security is about as good as it can be in a big city like Houston.” Among Rice’s efforts to combat the issue of sexual assault on college campuses is a mandatory five-week, one-credit Critical Thinking in Sexuality course taken by all incoming freshmen.

Social life is campus-based and revolves around the residential colleges, which frequently host themed, campuswide parties as well as private gatherings. “While Rice students can write algorithms and social commentary, they still know how to throw a good party,” boasts one junior. Students 21 and over are allowed to have alcohol on campus. Other student organizations host activities like shows, dinners, and dances too. Halloween brings a massive naked run, but the favorite annual tradition by far is Willy Week, which features a variety of festivities put on by the residential colleges, a university-wide water-balloon fight, and the highly anticipated Beer Bike, a relay race in which co-ed teams must speed around a bicycle track and chug water (“which used to be beer, before the drinking law changed,” a student explains).

Houston has a bustling nightlife, but you’d better bring a car to enjoy it. The light-rail system makes it easier to get to the city, but it’s still a challenge to get around-even with free transportation passes. The city offers ample opportunities for internships and volunteerism; 40 percent of students get involved in service learning. Galveston’s beaches on the Gulf of Mexico are only 45 minutes away, and heading for New Orleans, especially in February, can make a great weekend trip.

Ardent football fans abound at Rice; tearing down the goalposts after home victories remains a happy Owls tradition. Baseball is a powerhouse, and women’s volleyball and tennis are strong too. All teams compete in the Division I Conference USA. Rice students go really wild for intramurals, which pit the residential colleges against each other-75 percent participate.

William Marsh Rice never lived to see the fruits of his bequest (sadly, he was chloroformed by his valet in an ill-fated conspiracy to claim his estate), but he would certainly be proud of the university that he created and that bears his name. “Rice is a welcoming place with an openness to new ideas and a willingness to explore,” says an economics major. As the university grows, it remains to be seen whether it will be able to maintain the close relationships with faculty and the intimate quality of the residential experience that has made it special. But when students venture outside the hedges for the last time, their Rice diplomas open doors to the corporate world. And thanks to Rice’s efforts to keep tuition affordable, their wallets haven’t been emptied.

-Fiske Guide