by our College Data Analytics TeamRice University is a private not-for-profit institution in Houston, Texas enrolling 4,776 undergraduates. It accepts 8% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 95%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #19 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 1%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Rice University ranks #19 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 1%.
College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.
Rice University was awarded 1157 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked Rice as #19 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 1% of all schools in the nation!
Rice also holds the #1 spot on the Best Colleges in Texas ranking.
See all of the rankings for Rice University.
With an acceptance rate of 8%, Rice is one of the most selective schools in the country. Good grades and high test scores alone may not be enough to get you into the school, so do your best to submit a stellar application.
About 48% of students accepted to Rice submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 740 and 770. Math scores were between 770 and 800.
Rice received ACT scores from 22% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 34 and 35.
Learn more about Rice University admissions.
At Rice, the student to faculty ratio is an excellent 6 to 1. That’s much better than the national average of 15 to 1. This indicates that many classes will probably be small, and students will have ample opportunities to work closely with their professors and classmates.
When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Rice University is 84%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Rice University has a freshmen retention rate of 97%. That’s a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It’s also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At Rice the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 95%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Rice University.
The current enrollment includes 4,776 undergraduates at Rice.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Rice University.
The overall average net price of Rice is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5,827 | $563 | $3,217 | $17,755 | $48,466 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Rice, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Rice, approximately 6% of students took out student loans averaging $6,202 a year. That adds up to $24,808 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 0.7%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for Rice University.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from Rice University make around $89,718 per year during the early years of their employment. That’s great news for Rice University students since it is 82% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at Rice University make the most money.
Rice University is an private not-for-profit institution located in Houston, Texas. Houston is a great location for students who prefer city over country life. Get more details about the location of Rice University.
Contact information for Rice University are listed below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 6100 S Main St, Houston, TX 77005-1827 |
| Phone: | 7133480000 |
| Website: | www.rice.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_University |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/RiceUniversity |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/RiceUniversity |
In the latest year of available data, students from 25 majors graduated from Rice University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 3,171 | NA |
| Management Sciences & Methods | 664 | NA |
| Computer Information Systems | 373 | $122,770 |
| General Biology | 131 | NA |
| Economics | 125 | $87,989 |
| Electrical and Computer Engineering. | 118 | NA |
| Biomedical Engineering | 110 | NA |
| Mechanical Engineering | 90 | $70,400 |
| General Psychology | 89 | $31,474 |
| Music | 85 | $28,275 |
83 students took at least one online class at Rice University.
Online learning options are becoming more and more popular at American colleges and universities. Online classes are great for students who have busy schedules or for those who just want to study on their own time.
Learn more about online learning at Rice University.
Want to see how other colleges compare to Rice? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free tool for head-to-head college comparisons.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
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