Rice University is an American private research university located on a 300-acre (120 ha) campus in Houston, Texas, United States. The university is situated near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center.
University is generally regarded as a liberal arts institution that offers undergraduate programs on top of its graduate programs. As such, it is one of only two members of the Association of American Universities (a group that includes 62 leading public and private research universities) to be located outside of the Northeast United States. The other member institution is Stanford University. In 2010, Rice was ranked #2 in U.S News & World Report’s list of “National Universities”.
Also Rice is generally considered the most selective and sought-after university in Texas, as well as one of the top universities in the country.
Rice’s student body consists of over 6,000 undergraduate students and 2,200 graduate students with undergraduate degrees, and 1,300 undergraduate students and 1,200 graduate students with master’s or doctoral degrees. The university has a low 15/1 student/faculty ratio and an average class size of fewer than 25 students. The university operates on a 4-1-4 academic calendar with the fall term beginning in late September and ending mid December; winter term beginning mid January and ending mid March; spring term beginning mid April and ending early June; summer term beginning early July and ending late August.
In fact, Rice has produced 24 Rhodes Scholars since 1985. It has been ranked by US News & World Report as one of the top 20 best universities in America for 27 consecutive years. Rice is also ranked among the top 20 best values among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.
