Rice top 10 in Architectural Record ranking

The Rice School of Architecture has been ranked as one of the top 10 undergraduate architecture schools in the nation by Architectural Record for the ninth straight year.

The Rice School of Architecture program for undergraduate students remained among the top 10 architecture schools in the nation, according to this year’s Architectural Record ranking.

The magazine placed Rice at No. 6 nationally. Over the past nine years, the program has risen from No. 9, never leaving the top 10. Last year Rice was ranked fourth, but this year was bumped two places by Virginia Tech and the University of Southern California.

“Given that we are a fraction of the size of all of the other top 10 schools, it’s particularly affirming to see our strengths recognized nationally like this,” said Dean Sarah Whiting, the William Ward Watkin Professor of Architecture. “I’m very proud of the incredible education that our faculty provide here at the school.”

The rankings by DesignIntelligence and the Design Futures Council are based on survey responses from hundreds of leaders at architecture firms who have had direct experience hiring and judging the performance of recent architecture graduates. Participants were asked which accredited programs have best prepared their students for real-world practice.

Cornell University and California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo remained in the No. 1 and 2 spots, respectively, for the fourth year in a row. Syracuse University was No. 3 for the second straight year.