Rice University is a preeminent research university in Houston, Texas, that is consistently ranked among the top 20 universities in the United States. With its small student body (~3800 undergraduates and ~ 2500 postgraduates) and 5:1 student-faculty ratio, Rice is well known for the quality of the education it provides. With more than $100 million in sponsored research funding, the university also has very high research activity for its size. According to the Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index, Rice is the most productive research university in Texas and among the top 10 research universities in the country. In 2013 the Princeton Review ranked Rice #1 for best quality of life (for the fourth time) and #2 for happiest students (after coming in first the last two years).
The Rice experience is enhanced by its location in Houston, Texas, the fourth-largest city in the United States, and an international city with an energetic and diverse culture, and. Forbes recently named Houston “America’s Coolest City”; the Brookings Institution ranks Houston as the city with the strongest economy in the nation.