Default | NEWS

2/20/2007

CONTACT: B.J. Almond
PHONE: (713) 348-6770
E-MAIL: balmond@rice.edu

Tuition and fees will increase 7.1 percent to $28,900 for new students this fall at Rice University, university officials announced today. Tuition for returning students will increase 5.4 percent in most cases. 

By class, student tuition and fees will be:

* Fifth-year students -- $22,000

* Seniors -- $24,770

* Juniors -- $26,430

* Sophomores -- $28,430

* Freshmen -- $28,900

Room and board will increase 6.9 percent to $10,250. 

Tuition for most new and continuing graduate students will be $28,400; for architecture, music and professional master’s students, tuition will be $24,330; tuition for doctoral students is reduced after their third year. Students enrolled in the master’s in liberal studies program will pay $2,246 per course.

At Rice’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management, tuition will be $33,500 for full-time MBA students. Entering students in the MBA for Professionals program will pay $39,500 for each of their two years. Entering executive MBA students will pay $42,000 for each of their two years.

At less than $40,000, the total of tuition, room and board at Rice is still well below that of many of its peer universities, where costs are approaching $50,000. 

“Tuition increases were needed to cover the rising costs of our core education and research, especially to attract top faculty, and also to carry out long-term plans to substantially improve the educational experience for our students,” said President David Leebron. “At the same time, we will not let cost be a barrier to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.” 

Rice practices need-blind admissions: Students are admitted without regard to their ability to pay, and then receive a financial aid package to meet 100 percent of the demonstrated need. That package can include federal and state grants, Rice and other scholarships, loans and work-study opportunities.

“Because of our commitment to comprehensive financial-aid policies, most students pay a fraction of the stated tuition and other charges,” Leebron said.

Among currently enrolled undergraduates, slightly more than one-third receive need-based aid packages averaging $20,140, including loans and work study.

Two years ago Rice implemented a policy under which no loans are required for students whose families have incomes of less than $30,000. For ’07 entering students from families who have incomes above $60,000, Rice limits total debt to $14,525 after all four years. This cap is lower than the $23,000 federal loan limit.

Rice is among the top-ranked private research universities in the country. The 2007 edition of the Princeton Review’s “Best 361 Colleges” ranked Rice No. 1 for best quality of life and for friendliest race-class interaction. Rice’s architecture school was recently ranked second highest in the country in a survey of architect firms. Rice was ranked No. 2 in computer engineering and No. 3 in both bioengineering and electrical engineering in the 2005 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index.

“The student experience at Rice is distinctive because undergraduates can participate in actual research by some of the country’s leading scientists, and those scientists all teach full classloads where they are fully engaged with their students,” Leebron said. “We need to invest to keep that educational and research experience unique and strong.”

As part of Rice’s plan to become one of the leading private research universities in the world, Leebron has developed a strategy – called “Vision for the Second Century” – that will increase the undergraduate student body by 30 percent over the next decade. The plan also includes a building program of more than $600 million over the next five years.