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Wednesday, August 27, 2025 — Houston, TX

O-Week: By the numbers

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Photo by Konstantin Savvon | The Rice Thresher
New students pass under the Sallyport as part of their matriculation. This year, Rice welcomed its largest class in its history. Konstantin Savvon / Thresher

By Hongtao Hu     8/26/25 9:47pm

1,345: After the rush of college applications and acceptance letters settled, a total of 1,345 freshmen walked through the Sallyport to cheers and fireworks, kicking off their very first week as Rice students. This represents a yield of 45%, out of a total of 2,852 students accepted, amounting to an 8% acceptance rate of the 36,791 applicants for the class of 2029. This is a 17% increase, 196 students, from the 1,149 admitted to the class of 2028. 

The university aims to expand its enrollment to 5,200 undergraduate students by 2028, a 30% increase from 2020.

35: The largest ethnic group at Rice is Asian-Americans at 35%, with Caucasians following at 23%, and Mexican-Americans and Black students at 8% and 7% respectively. While Rice’s ethnic makeup is diverse, recent federal challenges to diversity programs and free speech have revealed ongoing difficulties, both external and internal



3,666: Tuition has increased every year at Rice, overtaking inflation. This year, tuition has increased by $3,666, and the total predicted cost of attendance has increased by $5,283 for students paying the full sticker price.

One cost is the recent H&D meal plan change. The main on-campus plan changed the previous 375 swipe plan to unlimited swipes at the cost of limited guest swipes and a $150 increase, which has been described by some students as harmful to Rice’s Culture of Care. 

2,500: In late July, Rice offered $2,500 to students on the waitlist if they continued to wait and were admitted. Rice wrote in an email to students on the waitlist, “We have determined that we have ten remaining places in our Class of 2029, and we hope to offer those places in the very near future … in recognition of this, we will award students admitted from the waitlist a one-time grant of $2,500.”

This is an unusual grant, but college waitlists across the country are pushed further and further back. Last year, waitlist decisions were made in June. This year? July and later.  

“This grant, which is on top of any need-based financial aid, was intended to recognize the unique circumstances of a later admission offer,” Chris Stipes, the executive director of news and media relations, wrote in an email to the Thresher. 

1, 4:  One new minor and four new majors are available for this year’s freshmen. The Glasscock School introduced a Teaching Minor for undergraduates this spring. The newly launched B.A. in Cinema and Media Studies, B.A. in Global Affairs, a Bachelor of Music in Orchestral Conducting and B.S. in Artificial Intelligence are waiting for prospective students.

5: There are currently five construction projects on campus. It’s out with the old and in with the new — and Lovett College freshmen know this well. This will be their only year in the Toaster before they are transferred to a new building beside the new Chao College, currently under construction. Sarofim Hall — an art department building — opened its classroom doors to students this Monday. The Moody Center Complex for Student Life, set as an accompaniment to the Rice Memorial Center and Jones Business School, is also being built. 

2: Two student-run businesses, The Hoot and Tea Nook, closed this spring and summer, respectively. While fewer options are available for late-night meals and boba tea and student workers at these locations have lost their jobs, student employment at Rice now pays more. The Rice student minimum wage is now $10 an hour, and the Rice administration has committed to an eventual increase to $15 an hour.



More from The Rice Thresher

NEWS 8/26/25 10:18pm
On-campus meal plan changed to unlimited swipes

Housing and Dining recently revealed a new dining plan for the upcoming semester. The required on-campus meal plan now has unlimited meal swipes, compared to 375 meal swipes last year. H&D said the previous on-campus meal plan was for students who intended to eat on campus 15 to 25 meals a week.


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