Rice University
A small, loan-free research university in Houston where every undergraduate belongs to one of 11 residential colleges.
- Acceptance rate
- 8.0%
- First-years who entered in fall 2025 (2025-26 Common Data Set)
- Students
- 9,071
- 4,807 undergraduates
- Student–faculty
- 5.6:1
- ratio
- Tuition
- $71,140
- 2026-27
- Founded
- 1912
About Rice
Rice University opened in Houston in 1912, funded by the bequest of merchant William Marsh Rice, and has about 4,800 undergraduates and 4,300 graduate students on a 300-acre wooded campus a few miles from downtown. Its schools cover architecture, business, engineering and computing, humanities, music, natural sciences and social sciences, and it is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Kinder Institute for Urban Research.
Rice is known for keeping undergraduate classes small, with an undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of just under 6 to 1, and for its residential college system: every student joins one of 11 colleges and keeps that membership for all four years. It is also a science and engineering school with real depth, where Robert Curl and Richard Smalley shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of fullerenes, and its bioengineering program ranks No. 7 in the U.S.
Admission is very selective: Rice admitted 2,948 of 36,791 applicants for fall 2025, about 8%. Rice suits students who want the resources of a research university with the feel of a much smaller college, set in a major city next to the Texas Medical Center. Its aid is generous: domestic admission is need-blind, aid is loan-free, and families earning up to $200,000 pay no tuition.
Letters, Science, Art
University motto
Why students choose Rice
The Rice Investment covers full tuition for families earning up to $200,000 and tuition, fees and room and board up to $100,000 (typical assets), with loan-free aid for all.
Every undergraduate belongs to one of 11 residential colleges, where they live, eat and take part in traditions such as the Beer Bike race.
The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6 to 1, and U.S. News ranks Rice No. 8 for undergraduate teaching (2027).
Bioengineering (U.S. News No. 7) and the Virani Undergraduate School of Business, whose entrepreneurship program ranks No. 8, sit alongside the Shepherd School of Music.
Admissions
First-years who entered in fall 2025 (2025-26 Common Data Set)
About 1 in 13 applicants is admitted
2,948 admitted from 36,791 applicants
Middle 50% of admitted students scored in this range.
Middle 50% of admitted students scored in this range.
Early Decision admitted 647 of 5,748 applicants for fall 2025. International applicants are reviewed need-aware, and 332 of 8,791 international applicants were admitted.
Typical entry requirements
| High school coursework | At least 16 credits across English, social studies, mathematics, laboratory science and one foreign language; science and engineering applicants need trigonometry or precalculus, chemistry and physics |
|---|---|
| IB / A-levels | Predicted results are considered; final results must be submitted before enrolling |
| English language | IELTS 7 · TOEFL iBT 100 TOEFL iBT 100 for tests before January 21, 2026, or 5.0 on the new scale; IELTS 7; Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency 185; Duolingo 130. Waived after at least two years of full-time study in an English-language curriculum. |
Deadlines
- Early Decision I Binding Next deadline · In 26 daysNovember 1, 2026
Binding; decisions by mid-December; interview requests by November 3.
- Shepherd School of Music Non-binding In 56 daysDecember 1, 2026
All music application materials; music applicants cannot use ED I, ED II or QuestBridge.
- Early Decision II Binding In ~3 monthsJanuary 4, 2027
Binding; decisions by late January.
- Regular Decision Non-binding In ~3 monthsJanuary 4, 2027
Decisions by April 1. Apply by December 14 to get priority for an interview.
Dates are from Rice's first-year applicant page for the 2026-27 application cycle. Rice has no Early Action plan; QuestBridge applicants follow the National College Match timeline.
How to apply
Common App or QuestBridge ($75 fee, waivers available); Rice supplement with two 150-word essays and one 500-word essay; The Box (an image that represents you); counselor letter and two teacher letters; transcript; optional SAT or ACT; optional virtual interview or Glimpse video. Architecture applicants submit a portfolio, and music applicants submit Shepherd School materials by December 1.
What admissions looks for
- Intellectual vitality, shown through rigorous course choices and strong grades relative to what your school offers.
- Clear academic interests: the first supplement essay asks what draws you to your chosen areas and how you would explore them at Rice.
- What you would add to the residential college community and campus life.
- Recommendations from a counselor and two core-subject teachers, ideally including one in your intended field; the Common Data Set rates recommendations, essays, extracurriculars, talent and character as very important.
- In the 2025-26 Common Data Set, rigor, class rank, GPA and test scores are all very important, while interviews, first-generation status and demonstrated interest are only considered.
Tips for applying to Rice
- 1 Take The Box seriously but keep it simple: it is not evaluated, but it should be an image that speaks for itself.
- 2 Request an interview by the deadline (November 3 for ED I, December 16 for Regular Decision priority); all interviews for 2026-27 are virtual.
- 3 If Rice is your first choice, ED I or ED II gives you a binding decision by mid-December or late January.
- 4 International applicants: admission is need-aware, and you cannot apply for aid in later years if you don't request it when you apply.
What are your chances?
Sign up to see your personalized admission chances for Rice University
Sign up to see your chancesCosts & financial aid
2026-27 · figures in USD
Rice is need-blind for domestic applicants and meets 100% of demonstrated need without loans. Through The Rice Investment, families earning up to $200,000 pay no tuition, and those up to $100,000 also have fees and room and board covered (typical assets). International applicants are considered need-aware and can get need-based aid in limited numbers; about 20% of admitted students receive merit scholarships, with no separate application.
- Full tuition covered
- Family income up to $200,000
- Tuition, fees, room and board covered
- Family income up to $100,000
- $75,643
- Average first-year aid package
- Over 54%
- Undergraduates receiving some aid
- About 20%
- Admitted students offered merit scholarships
Academics
Academic calendar: Semesters
Bioengineering
Ranked No. 7 among undergraduate biomedical engineering programs (U.S. News 2027), with the Texas Medical Center next door.
Computer Science
Up six places to No. 24 nationally in U.S. News 2027, within a top-20 undergraduate engineering school.
Entrepreneurship (Virani Undergraduate School of Business)
No. 8 in the U.S. in U.S. News 2027, up 23 places in three years; the business major only launched in 2021.
Architecture
Admission to the Rice School of Architecture requires a separate creative portfolio and two architecture essays.
Music (Shepherd School of Music)
A conservatory inside a research university, with its own audition process and December 1 deadline.
Research
- Robert Curl and Richard Smalley shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work on fullerenes at Rice, a starting point for nanotechnology.
- The Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Kinder Institute for Urban Research are based on campus.
- Recent additions include the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2017), the Moody Center for the Arts (2017) and the Ion innovation hub (2021).
Schools & faculties
- George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing
- Wiess School of Natural Sciences
- School of Humanities
- School of Social Sciences
- School of Architecture
- Shepherd School of Music
- Virani Undergraduate School of Business
- Jones Graduate School of Business
- Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies
College Scorecard: median earnings of $89,718 ten years after entry (and $79,751 six years after entry) for federally aided students.
Student life
Life at Rice is built around the 11 residential colleges. Students keep their college membership for all four years; colleges are where students live, dine and meet faculty and alumni, and they carry their own traditions and rivalries. 99% of first-years live on campus. There are no fraternities or sororities. The best-known tradition is Beer Bike, an intramural relay bike race between colleges dating back to 1957, and the Marching Owl Band is a scatter band that performs comic skits instead of formations. The Rice Owls compete in NCAA Division I; the baseball team won the 2003 College World Series.
- 11 residential colleges, with membership that lasts all four years
- Beer Bike, the inter-college relay bike race held since 1957
- No fraternities or sororities (CDS 2025-26)
- The Marching Owl Band (MOB), a scatter band known for comic routines
- Rice Owls baseball won the 2003 College World Series
Housing. 99% of first-years and 59% of all undergraduates live in college-owned housing (CDS 2025-26).
Location
Rice's 300-acre, tree-lined campus is in an urban part of Houston, close to the Texas Medical Center, which Rice partners with, and a few miles from downtown. Houston is one of the largest U.S. cities, with a big energy, space and health economy, a diverse food scene and hot, humid summers.
Nearest airport: William P. Hobby Airport (HOU); George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) for most international flights
Notable alumni
- RW Robert Woodrow WilsonNobel Prize-winning physicist who co-discovered the cosmic microwave background radiation; Rice class of 1957
- LM Larry McMurtryPulitzer Prize-winning author of Lonesome Dove; M.A. 1960
- JD John DoerrVenture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins; Rice class of 1973
- AG Alberto GonzalesU.S. Attorney General (2005-2007); Rice class of 1979
- AP Annise ParkerMayor of Houston (2010-2016); Rice class of 1978
- LB Lance BerkmanSix-time MLB All-Star with the Houston Astros; played college baseball at Rice
- HH Howard HughesAviator, industrialist and filmmaker; attended Rice
Frequently asked questions
What is Rice University's acceptance rate?
Rice admitted 2,948 of 36,791 first-year applicants for fall 2025, about 8%. Early Decision admitted 647 of 5,748 applicants.
Is Rice test-optional for fall 2027?
Rice recommends submitting SAT or ACT scores if you have them, but applicants who don't submit get full consideration. The middle 50% SAT of enrolled first-years was 1510-1560.
What are Rice's application deadlines for fall 2027?
Early Decision I is due November 1, 2026. Early Decision II and Regular Decision are both due January 4, 2027, and Shepherd School of Music applicants must finish by December 1, 2026.
Is Rice need-blind for international students?
No. Rice is need-blind for domestic applicants but need-aware for international applicants, and it offers need-based aid to a limited number of international first-years.
How much does Rice cost?
For 2026-27, tuition is $71,140 plus $984 in fees, and the total cost of attendance on campus is $97,309. Families earning up to $200,000 pay no tuition under The Rice Investment.
Sources & methodology
Figures on this page were checked against official university publications, national application services and ranking publishers in September 2026. Each number is shown with the year or admissions cycle it describes. Always confirm deadlines and fees on the university's own website before applying.
Explore nearby in the world top 100
Universities ranked close to Rice in the QS World University Rankings 2027.