Rice to expand enrollment and financial aid by 2028
Rice will grow another 8%, aiming to enroll 5,200 students by fall 2028, announced an April 21 press release. This is the second recent expansion at Rice, following a 2021 initiative that raised the undergraduate population 20%, from 4,000 to 4,800.
Over the next five years, university officials also committed to providing $1.5 billion in financial aid. Rice launched its need-based aid program, The Rice Investment, in 2019 and has since disbursed $650 million.
Currently, The Rice Investment offers full tuition, fees and living expenses for students of an income range of $75K and below, full tuition from $75K to $140K and half tuition from $140K to $200K.
“This is first and foremost about expanding access and redefining what it means to be elite, which is not about being exclusive,” President Reggie DesRoches wrote in a post on X.
The Board of Trustees approved the plan, which also includes a nearly 5% increase to the graduate student population, which is 4,100 today. By 2028, Rice is planning to enroll around 9,500 students in total.
Yvonne Romero, the vice president for enrollment and dean of admissions and financial aid, said that despite the expansion Rice’s student profile would remain the same.
“We are already a diverse university with student voices that represent many unique perspectives, upbringings, and experiences from across the country and around the globe,” Romero wrote in an email to the Thresher. “By increasing the undergraduate student population we make more opportunities to a Rice education available to more talented students. Our 13% increase in applications this past year reflects the enthusiasm and interest prospective students have in a Rice education.”
Rice continues to see record application numbers and declining acceptance rates, with a 7.8% acceptance rate for 36,777 applicants in the most recent admissions cycle.
To accommodate the increased undergraduate population, Rice is set to open a new residential college in fall 2026. Another residential college is also planned. For graduate students, new housing is being developed in the Ion District in Midtown.
With the Momentous strategic plan unveiled in fall 2024, administrators say that the institution plans to maintain a low student to faculty ratio — currently 6-to-1. According to the press release, Rice hired 97 new faculty members in 2024 and has plans to continue expanding its faculty.
The announcement comes alongside threats to university funding and operation. Rice has recently experienced $10 million in research cuts, said Desroches in an interview with KHOU. Rice is also currently under investigation by the Department of Education due to allegations of “race-exclusionary practices” in graduate student admissions.
In the interview, DesRoches said that Rice remains committed to its guiding principles and will work to maintain its academics and research capabilities.
“It’s all about educating the next generation of students, making sure we are doing world class research, supporting the students — keeping the students first and foremost in everything that we do,” DesRoches said during the interview.
More from The Rice Thresher
O’Rourke rallies students in Academic Quad
Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of El Paso, Texas spoke in front of the Sallyport to a sea of sunglasses and “end gun violence” signs April 17. The rally, organized by Rice Young Democrats, took place in the academic quad from noon to 2 p.m.
Uncertainty, fear and isolation loom over international students after visa revocations
With the wave of international student visa revocations across the country, including three students at Rice and two recent graduates, international students have expressed fears that their visas will soon be terminated without warning.
All bike no beer: bikers race remaining heats without spectators
Modified Beer Bike races, dubbed “Bike Bike,” were held at the track April 18 from 5-8 p.m. Results were released by email April 21.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.