Rice University is once again among the nation’s leading universities, earning the No. 10 spot in Niche’s 2027 Best Colleges in America rankings while placing in the top 10 across 18 academic disciplines and university categories.
Rice ranked No. 10 nationally for the second consecutive year and No. 1 among universities in Texas. The university also received an overall A-plus grade from Niche, along with A-plus grades for academics, campus, diversity, professors, location and student life.
The rankings demonstrate the breadth of Rice’s strengths, with the university placing among the nation’s top five in seven categories and earning No. 1 rankings for its kinesiology and physical therapy, sports management and architecture programs. Rice also ranked No. 2 for art, No. 4 among test-optional colleges and No. 5 for both chemistry and music.
“Rice’s excellence is reflected not in any single ranking but in the extraordinary breadth of what we do,” President Reginald DesRoches said. “From world-class academics and research to an exceptional student experience, these results underscore Rice’s position among the nation’s great universities.”
Rice earned additional top 10 rankings for:
- Public policy, No. 6
- Psychology, No. 7
- Engineering, No. 8
- Colleges that accept the Common Application, No. 9
- Political science, No. 9
- Best colleges overall, No. 10
- Professors, No. 10
- Private universities, No. 10
- Anthropology and sociology, No. 10
- Research, No. 10
- Physics, No. 10
The recognition extends beyond academic programs. Student feedback collected by Niche highlights Rice’s strong sense of community and distinctive residential college experience. In a student poll, 55% of respondents said they “love everything” about Rice and have “a lot of campus pride.”
Students described Rice’s residential college system as one that “instantly creates a strong sense of community” and creates close-knit groups that can become lifelong relationships. They characterized the broader student culture as collaborative, supportive, kind and ambitious.
“Recognition like this reflects the extraordinary faculty and students who make Rice what it is,” said Amy Dittmar, the Howard R. Hughes Provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “Their talent, curiosity and commitment to excellence — and to one another — create the academic strength, collaborative culture and sense of community that make Rice such a special place.”
Niche’s rankings combine federal data from the U.S. Department of Education and National Science Foundation with information on enrollment, alumni earnings, tuition and financial aid and more than 1 million student and alumni reviews. The organization says the approach is designed to give prospective students and families a broad view of colleges that extends beyond academic reputation or selectivity.
“Colleges aren’t one-size-fits-all, and we don’t think rankings should be either,” said Luke Skurman, founder and CEO of Niche. “This is the most complete and fair picture of university success we’ve ever published.”
The Niche results follow additional national recognition for Rice this month. The Princeton Review’s 2027 Best Colleges rankings named Rice No. 1 in the nation for Lots of Race/Class Interaction, No. 3 for Best College Newspaper and No. 9 for Friendliest Students. Rice also placed among the nation’s top 25 in 11 additional Princeton Review categories.