Rice announces tuition increase and reaffirms commitment to financial aid for fall 2010

BY B.J. ALMOND
Rice News staff

Rice University’s undergraduate tuition for 2010-11 will be $33,120 — an increase of 5.4 percent or $1,690 over last fall’s. The university will also increase its financial aid budget about 16 percent and continue to honor financial aid policies intended to make a Rice education accessible to qualified students from all economic backgrounds.

	Rice will increase its financial aid budget about 16 percent and continue to honor financial aid policies intended to make a Rice education accessible to qualified students from all economic backgrounds.

“Last year we raised our no-loan threshold and lowered our four-year cap on student loans to help keep a Rice education affordable for students when many families were struggling during the prolonged economic downturn,” President David Leebron said. “Rice University remains committed to a need-blind approach to admission that benefits our community and our nation by creating a student body from diverse backgrounds and circumstances.”

Leebron said he realizes that any tuition increase would be a burden in these difficult times, but the increase was necessary to enable Rice to continue providing the best in top-quality education and research for its undergraduate and graduate students. Rice has been among the top 20 research universities in the country in all 23 years that U.S. News and World Report has published its rankings.

Under an aid enhancement instituted last year, freshmen entering Rice this fall who qualify for need-based aid and whose family annual income is $80,000 or less will not be required to take out loans to pay for their education.

The university will also continue to honor the $10,000 cap on loans in financial aid packages for need-eligible incoming freshmen for their four undergraduate years. The cap was lowered to $10,000 for freshmen entering in fall 2009 or later.

Rice adjusts need-based aid packages, as necessary, for enrolled students to accommodate increases in tuition, fees, and room and board. A financial aid budget of more than $57 million — an increase of $10 million over last year’s — will be submitted to the Rice Board of Trustees at its May meeting.

Under its policy of need-blind admission, Rice evaluates a student’s academic qualification for admission with no consideration of their financial situation. If students are admitted, the university provides a package of financial support that includes grants, loans and work study to pay for their tuition and fees. In the current year, about 70 percent of entering students receive some form of financial support.

Room and board for 2010-11 will increase $520 to $11,750. The total charge for entering students, including tuition, fees, and room and board, will be close to $45,500.

Tuition for most graduate students will also increase 5.4 percent, or $1,690, to $33,120.

For students entering the MBA program at the Jones Graduate School of Business, tuition will increase 5 percent, or $2,000, to $42,000.

“Students come to Rice with the expectation that they will be taught by and do research with some of the country’s best professors, as well as work with talented, motivated fellow students from around the world,” said Chris Muñoz, vice president for enrollment. “Our priority is to ensure no student misses out on the Rice experience because of a lack of financial resources. We want the brightest, most promising students from all walks of life.”

Rice’s tuition and fees are about $6,000 less than that charged by its peer universities. Both Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine and the Princeton Review’s “Best Value Colleges for 2010” rank Rice among the top 10 private schools that offer an exceptional education and an outstanding economic value. The 2010 edition of “Fiske Guide to Colleges” also lists Rice as a “best value school.”

And the 2010 edition of the Princeton Review’s “The Best 371 Colleges” ranks Rice No. 1 for best quality of life.

For more information about Rice and its financial aid programs and to apply, go to http://www.futureowls.rice.edu.