Houston has long been known for its booming economy, but new research from Rice suggests the region is still paying the price for an oil crash that happened more than a decade ago.
As financial literacy education gains momentum across the country, Rice is helping students build the skills to navigate financial decisions they’ll face long after graduation.
The analysis, Texas Revenues Modestly Rebound in Fiscal 2026, by John Diamond, Bill King and Joyce Beebe, finds that total state revenue increased 3.2% to $188.9 billion in fiscal 2026, following two years of little or no growth. Tax collections rose faster, increasing 4.8% to $88.2 billion — $1.6 billion above the Texas comptroller of public accounts’ forecast.
Rice’s Texas-Latin America Social Science Forum on Language and Opportunity brought together scholars from sociology, economics and political science to explore how language influences opportunities for Latino communities, particularly in Texas, and how research can help identify and address barriers.
Fondren Fellows pairs Rice undergraduate and graduate students with faculty mentors and library staff to pursue original research projects grounded in Fondren Library’s collections and digital infrastructure.
“Artificial intelligence is transforming the global economy and raising profound questions about how technology intersects with society,” said Caroline Levander, Rice’s vice president for global strategy.
a spirit of conversation defined the two-day conference organized by Rice’s School of Humanities and Arts faculty Jacqueline Couti and Caroline Fache ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
With a partial U.S. government shutdown increasingly possible by the end of the week, Rice experts can provide insight into what is at stake, how a shutdown could happen and the likely effects on the economy, public health and federal policymaking.
New Master of Computational Economics (MCEcon) program that sits at the intersection of economics, data science and computation positions Rice among the leading institutions offering this kind of quantitative economics and computation degree.