Fiske Guide to Colleges names Rice a 2015 ‘Best Buy’

The annual Fiske Guide to Colleges has named Rice University one of 22 “Best Buys” for 2015. The list includes private universities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

For more than 30 years, Fiske Guide to Colleges has chosen a select group of schools noted for quality academic offerings and affordable cost. Rice has appeared on the list numerous times over the years.

In their selection of Rice, Fiske wrote, “Rice University has stayed true to its mission of providing unsurpassed programs in science, engineering, the arts and humanities — with a price tag most families can afford.”

When students venture outside the hedges for the last time, “Rice diplomas open doors to the corporate world,” Fiske reported. “After all, they’ve had a terrific academic experience and a decent social life for four years, and their wallets haven’t been emptied, thanks to a relatively modest tuition.”

Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is about 6-to-1.

“With its top-notch programs in the liberal arts and sciences … Rice University is a good deal among top schools. It is the dominant university in the Southwest. Add to that a strong football team, a spirited student body, and an impressive success rate for graduates, and you’ve got yourself an incredible deal,” Fiske said.

Rice admits students regardless of their ability to pay and provides financial-aid packages that meet 100 percent of students’ demonstrated need. Since 2009, Rice has eliminated the loan requirement for students whose family income is below $80,000. Rice offers financial-aid packages for need-eligible incoming freshmen that require no more than $10,000 in loans for their four undergraduate years.

Rice University has also been ranked No. 1 for best quality of life multiple times by the Princeton Review and No. 2 for “best value” among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks Rice among the nation’s top 20 universities. To read “What they’re saying about Rice,” go here.