Rice does well in multiple rankings

In addition to rising to No. 14 among national universities in U.S. News & World Report’s 2018 “Best Colleges” guidebook, as reported in the Sept. 18 Rice News, Rice University has fared well in a number of other recent rankings. Below is a sampling.

The website Niche ranked Rice No. 5 among its “2018 Best Colleges in America.” The rankings are based on an analysis of academic, admissions, financial and student life data from the U.S. Department of Education along with millions of reviews from students and alumni. A number of academic disciplines at Rice are ranked among Niche’s top 20: architecture (No. 1), kinesiology and therapy (No. 1), art (No. 3), chemistry (No. 5), engineering (No. 6), psychology (No. 6), computer science (No. 7), music (No. 7), business (No. 10), English (No. 10), math (No. 10), history (No. 12), biology (No. 14) and political science (No. 18).

Rice University is No. 14 in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Times Higher Education’s (THE) ranking of U.S. colleges for 2018. The WSJ/THE rankings are based on the resources available to support education, the ability of degree programs and teaching to stimulate learning, the diversity and inclusiveness of the university’s environment and the propensity of the institution to contribute to students’ success.

Rice is the No. 1 best college in Texas and the No. 1 best college in the Southwest, according to College Factual. The rankings are based on data related to outcomes, such as loan default rates, graduation rates and average starting salaries of graduates. A number of academic disciplines at Rice are ranked among College Factual’s top 20: nanotechnology (No. 1), biochemistry/biophysics/molecular biology (No. 7), cognitive science (No. 8), chemical engineering (No. 10), applied mathematics (No. 11), mathematics and statistics (No. 12), computer information systems (No. 13), ecology, evolution and systematics biology (No. 14), chemistry (No. 15), economics (No. 15), geological and Earth sciences (No. 15), medieval studies (No. 16), health and physical education (No. 17), general architecture (No. 18) and public policy (No. 18).

Zippia, a new website dedicated to helping recent grads with their career choices, ranked Rice No. 1 in Texas and No. 3 nationally among colleges that are the most secure educational investments. The rankings were based on the cost of tuition, student loan default rates and median salary at six years after graduation. Zippia also ranked Rice as the No. 1 best school in Texas for biology majors, psychology majors, mechanical engineering majors and political science majors.

Rice is No. 16 on Forbes’ list of “50 Best U.S. Colleges For International Students 2017.” The ranking is based on overall quality, international student population, international student graduation rate and percentage of students who pursue academic fields most popular among international students.

In the 2018 QS World University Rankings, Rice moved up to No. 89 from No. 90 last year. These rankings factor in academic reputation, employer reputation, research citations per faculty member, student-to-faculty ratio and proportion of international faculty members and students.

Rice University is among the top 100 worldwide universities granted U.S. utility patents, according to the National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association. With 37 utility patents, Rice is ranked No. 68. The rankings are based on data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the 2016 calendar year.

As reported previously in Rice News, Rice is No. 1 for quality of life and for lots of race/class interaction and No. 2 for happiest students in the Princeton Review’s 2018 edition of “The Best 382 Colleges,” No. 12 on Money magazine’s list of “2017 Best Colleges for Your Money” and No. 86 in the Times Higher Education 2018 World University Rankings.