Top Rankings for Rice

The university was ranked ninth by Hispanic magazine among the best colleges for Latinos, and it was listed by the Princeton Review as one of the best 81 universities in the country for value. The 81 schools were selected from more than 350 colleges and universities, and each of them are profiled in the Princeton Review book America’s Best Value Colleges, which was released in April.

The School of Architecture now ranks No. 3 in the nation and No. 2 in the South, according to the Design Futures Council, a worldwide network of professionals involved with the design community, in its 2005 review of America’s undergraduate architecture programs. Rice also placed in the top 10 graduate architecture programs, ranking ninth nationally and second in the South.

The rankings were determined by a survey of nearly 500 U.S. architecture firms of various sizes. In reference to graduates hired over the past five years, the firms were asked which schools best prepared students for real-world practice. Only Cornell University and the University of Cincinnati ranked higher than Rice among undergraduate programs. In the southern regional rankings, Rice’s No. 2 placement was bested only by Auburn University for bachelor degree programs and by Georgia Institute of Technology for graduate programs. Rice’s School of Architecture consistently has ranked near the top for the past six years.

New to this year’s survey was a question asking participants to name three North American campuses that provide the best student experiences in reference to architecture, including overall campus design, site, and planning. Rice made the top 10 of that list as well, ranking seventh. Harvard University ranked first.

The ranking is published in the council’s journal, DesignIntelligence, and on its website, http://www.di.net.

The Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management also earned accolades by being named as the top business school in Texas and in the Southwest, according to the Financial Times 2005 survey of MBA programs released January 24.

In addition to its top state and regional rankings, the Jones School ranked 28th out of 57 business schools in the United States and 47th out of the top 100 business schools in the world in the Financial Times survey.

Among the 100 global schools, the Jones School’s finance program was ranked among the top 10 in the world. Among U.S. schools, the Jones School ranked No. 2 in percentage of women faculty; No. 11 in percentage of faculty with doctorates; No. 17 in percentage of women students; No. 20 in salary earned by graduates today; and No. 20 in weighted salary of graduates.