About Rice and Houston
Rice is a leading American research university – small, private, and highly selective – distinguished by a collaborative, interdisciplinary culture and a global perspective. Only a few miles from downtown Houston, it occupies an architecturally distinctive, 285-acre campus shaded by nearly 4,000 trees. State-of-the-art facilities and laboratories, internationally renowned centers and institutes, and one of the country’s largest endowments support an ideal learning and living environment.
The university attracts a diverse group of highly talented students and faculty with outstanding graduate and professional programs in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, architecture, music, and business. With just 1,938 graduate students and 2,988 undergraduates, it offers an unusual opportunity to forge close relationships with the university’s faculty and researchers and the option to tailor graduate programs to specific interests.
Houston offers all of the expected educational, cultural and commercial advantages of a large urban center, and more. It’s home of the Texas Medical Center, the largest concentration of medical schools, hospitals, and research facilities in the world, as well as several other universities. Rice has cooperative programs with the University of Houston, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Texas Health Science Center, and Texas Southern University. Houston is one of the few U.S. cities with resident companies in all four major performing arts – drama, ballet, opera, and symphony. It also boasts a museum district featuring exhibits of national and international prominence.
As urban as it is, Houston is also a surprisingly green city. Houstonians enjoy the outdoors in over 300 municipal parks and 120 open spaces, and many frequent the beach at Galveston Island, only a 45-minute drive away. Other short trips include Austin, the state’s capital, historic San Antonio, and the beaches of Corpus Christi, all of which are about three hours away by car.
Useful Links
- Cost of living calculator for Houston
- Consular Offices in Texas
- Office of Research and Graduate Studies
- Rice Graduate Housing
- Off-Campus Housing
- Graduate Student Association
- City of Houston
- The Houston Chronicle
- Houston information from the Greater Houston Partnership
- Houston information from Citysearch
- FedEx printing services
- Office Depot