Rice remains top-20 university

By Josh Rutenberg     8/27/09 7:00pm

Rice has once again secured a spot among America's top colleges, tying for 17th with Emory University and Vanderbilt University in U.S. News & World Report's "Best Colleges 2010." In addition to being named one of America's top universities, Rice also received the spotlight for its attention to undergraduate students and its top engineering program.The methodology used to rank national universities consists of multiple criteria, with a quarter of the weight attributed to a peer assessment, 20 percent weighted on retention rates, 20 percent based on faculty resources, 15 percent for student selectivity, 10 percent for financial resources and the remaining 10 percent split evenly between graduation rates and alumni donations.

In addition to being recognized as a top-20 school, Rice also ranked among the top 20 in individual programs and distinguished categories.

While Rice has ranked highly in the past, President David Leebron said the rankings this year are reflective of the university's momentum.

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"I think one has to be careful not to pay too much attention to these rankings," Leebron said. "As top universities, we are pleased with some other specific things that continue to show up in those rankings, but I think the new thing this year, or at least one thing new this year in terms of recognition of Rice, is that we're sort of a school on the move."

Coming in 12th place as a "Best Value" college, Rice boasts an average 56 percent discount in total cost of student tuition, room and board, fees and other expenses, which are covered by scholarships and grants. According the survey, over one-third of students at Rice receive some type of need-based grants.

Rice also tied for 11th place in the category of "Up and Coming" national universities, which U.S. News and World Report defines as a university making "substantial improvements in quality." This year, Rice tied with Emory, Clemson University and University of South Carolina at Columbia.

Some students notice improvements in quality in their everyday dining experience.

"The quality of food has definitely improved," Wiess College junior Siegfried Bilstein said. "A lot more colleges have meal programs for OC students."

In the category of "Best Undergraduate Teaching," which looks at national universities that have a "strong commitment to teaching undergraduates over graduate-level research," Rice also tied for 11th, alongside Bowling Green State University, Howard University, University of California at Berkeley, University of Chicago, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of St. Thomas and Wake Forest University. Rice maintains an undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of five to one, with an undergraduate class size of just over 3,000 students.

The small class sizes and ability to cater to one's academic needs are a few of the reasons why Rice may rank highly for the best undergraduate teaching category.

"I am working with another student to create a major in energy studies, and we were able to meet with many different professors," Brown College sophomore Ruchir Shah said. "That type of experience isn't available at most other schools."

The rankings also recognized George R. Brown School of Engineering for two of its programs. The biomedical engineering program placed ninth, while the electrical engineering program placed 19th.

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