Rice University has once again taken home a top 10 ranking, moving up one spot from last year, on the 2023 Best Colleges in America list from Niche, a website geared toward college applicants.
With an A-plus grade, Rice came in at No. 6 out of 1,555 ranked colleges, making it the highest-ranked school in Texas. Last year, it was No. 7, also earning an A-plus. According to Niche, Rice has 4,150 students enrolled in undergrad, an 11% acceptance rate and a yearly net tuition price of $19,215.
The University of Texas trails behind Rice at No. 46 for Best Colleges in America and No. 2 for Texas, while Texas A&M sits at No. 75 for Best Colleges in America and No. 3 for Texas.
Rice is also the No. 1 university nationwide in three other Niche rankings: Best Colleges for Kinesiology and Physical Therapy in America, Best Colleges for Sports Management in America, and Best Colleges for Architecture in America. Among Texas schools, Rice tops several rankings, including Best Value Colleges in America (No. 7 nationwide), Colleges with the Best Professors in America (No. 9 nationwide) and Best College Campuses in America (No. 10 nationwide).
“We’re proud that Niche once again rates Rice not only one of the nation’s top universities, but also one of the nation’s best college values,” Rice President Reginald DesRoches said in a statement. “This is especially gratifying because Niche reflects the opinions of students and parents who know first-hand what outstanding education opportunities Rice continues to offer.”
Niche uses surveys from students, parents and alumni combined with data from the U.S. Department of Education to create a variety of rankings for the best colleges and universities. This year, the most significant change Niche made was overhauling the “value” component of its methodology. Niche dropped four old factors under the “value” category and added factors such as average return on investment by age 30, median earnings one year after graduation, percent of graduates employed two years after graduation, year-over-year difference between first- and second-year earnings, and more. Data for the new factors come from the Education Department, American Community Survey and Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
The change in “value” methodology affected many rankings, including the overall Best Colleges in America list, Niche noted.
Here are the other Houston-area universities that earned a B-plus or better on the overall Best Colleges in America list as well as the best Houston-area community colleges, which all received a B-minus or better:
University of Houston (main campus): A-minus
University of St. Thomas: B-plus
Lee College: B
Alvin Community College: B
Galveston College: B
Lone Star College-The Woodlands: B-minus
To view the lists of best colleges and the various ranks, click here.
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