Rice keeps tuition below $30,000 for the 2008-09 school year and doubles no-loan threshold

Rice
University today announced that it will hold tuition to $29,960 for
the 2008-09 freshman class and that it has doubled the income threshold
for its no-loan policy to $60,000.

Doubling the income threshold for the no-loan policy means that
students with family incomes below $60,000 will not be required to take
out loans to pay for college. This fall, for example, almost 20 percent
of the freshmen were from families with incomes under $60,000.

Tuition
will increase $1,560, or 5.5 percent, over the previous year’s.  One of
the country’s premier research universities and known for its
high-quality undergraduate education, Rice has consistently kept
tuition about $6,000 below that of comparable institutions.

The
tuition increase was approved by the Rice Board of Trustees at the Dec.
13 quarterly meeting.  Room and board for the year will be up $500 to
$10,750.  Including tuition and fees, the total increase over the
previous year’s amount is 5.3 percent.

The school also announced that more merit scholarships will be available for the next school year. 

“What’s
hot news at some elite universities is tradition at Rice,” said Chris
Munoz, vice president for enrollment. “We focus on what it takes to
provide a premier but affordable educational experience for our
students, and that’s why we have a reputation for providing best
value.” The 2008 edition of the Princeton Review’s “America’s
Best-Value Colleges” ranked Rice as the No. 1 best value among private
colleges. 

Rice admits students regardless of their ability to
pay and provides financial-aid packages that meet 100 percent of their
demonstrated need. Packages can include federal and state grants, loans
and work-study opportunities. Forty-three percent of the current
freshman class received need-based aid, which on average covers nearly
75 percent of tuition. No students who have demonstrated a need for
financial aid are required to borrow more than $14,525 over their
entire four-year undergraduate education.

“We are in a time of
great concern about the costs of higher education and at the same time
facing escalating costs for energy and other basics, as well as greater
competition for top faculty, students and resources,” Rice President
David Leebron said. “We constantly monitor all of these factors and
take steps to ensure that our education is accessible and affordable.

“Every
decision is aimed at giving students the best education and research
opportunities and in cultivating their unique abilities and interests
so that they leave Rice ready to have successful careers in which they
contribute to their professions, their communities and the world,”
Leebron said. “At the end of the day, that’s Rice’s value
proposition.”  

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