Established more than a century ago and having gained university recognition in 1963, Rice University currently ranks at #17 in the US News National University Rankings. It has been placed in the rank band #101-150 by Shanghai Rankings, QS Rankings, and THE Rankings. Rice University rankings indicate that it is one of the top private universities in USA.

Rice University is an academically dominant university as a number of its courses have been occupying top places in the leading ranking lists. Some of those courses at Rice University include ‘Mechanical Engineering’, ‘Chemical Engineering’, ‘Chemistry’, ‘Finance’, and many more. In addition to this, Rice University ranks at #5 in the ‘Best Value Schools ’ list of the US News.

Rice University Rankings: World Ranking Trends

Here’s how varies leading ranking bodies have placed Rice University among other global universities:-

Rice University Rankings: World Ranking Trends

Ranking Body 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
QS Rankings #85 #89 #94 #100 #145
US News National University Rankings #17 #16 #15 #17
CWUR #109 #139 #147 #160
THE Rankings #105 #124 #136 #147 #119
Shanghai Rankings #101-150 #101-150 #101-150 #101-150

Rice University Rankings: Engineering Courses

The US News have marked Rice University among the top 25 institutions for undergraduate engineering courses. Furthermore, its ‘Mechanical Engineering’ program resides at #34 in the Shanghai Rankings. More such engineering courses at Rice University and their ranking trends are tabulated below:-

Rice University Rankings: Engineering Courses

Ranking Body Program Ranking 2024 Ranking 2023 Ranking 2022 Ranking 2021

QS World Subject Rankings

Computer Science and Information Systems #201-250 #151-200 #151-200
Chemical Engineering #101-150 #92 #91
Civil and Structural Engineering #201-230
Mechanical Engineering #151-200 #151-200 #151-200
Electrical and Electronic Engineering #151-200 #151-200 #149
Engineering and Technology #200 #191 #123

Shanghai Rankings

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology #51-75 #44 #32
Biotechnology #201-300 #201-300 #201-300
Biomedical Engineering #151-200 #76-100 #101-150
Materials Science and Engineering #76-100 #76-100 #51-75
Environmental Science and Technology #151-200 #151-200 #151-200
Energy Science and Technology #151-200 #101-150 #101-150
Instrument Science and Technology #201-300 #101-150 #76-100
Mechanical Engineering #34 #201-300 #201-300
Chemical Engineering #76-100 #51-75 #50
Electrical and Electronic Engineering #301-400 #401-500 #401-500

Rice University Rankings: Natural Science Courses

Rice University is a premier institute for Natural Science courses as it caters to a plethora of top-ranked programs in this field. Some of those natural science courses at Rice University are ranked as follows:-

Ranking Body Program Ranking 2024 Ranking 2023 Ranking 2022 Ranking 2021

Shanghai Rankings

Earth Sciences #76-100 #76-100 #76-100
Physics #101-150 #101-150 #101-150
Atmospheric Sciences #301-400 #201-300 #201-300
Ecology #301-400 #301-400 #201-300
Chemistry #51-75 #50 #44
Mathematics #101-150 #51-75 #51-75

QS World Subject Rankings

Biological Sciences #201-250 #151-200 #151-200
Mathematics #151-200 #138 #139
Geology #151-200 #151-200 #101-150
Physics and Astronomy #127 #92 #100
Natural Science #166 #155 #122
Environmental Sciences #251-300 #251-300 #301-350
Chemistry #136 #109 #88
Earth and Marine Sciences #151-200 #101-150 #101-150

Rice University Rankings: Business Courses

The full-time MBA program at Rice University ranks at #18 according to new 2024 rankings from Poets&Quants. The b-school of Rice University offers highly reputed academic programs which is evident from the following ranking table:-

Rice University Rankings: Engineering Courses

Ranking Body Program Ranking 2024 Ranking 2023 Ranking 2022 Ranking 2021

QS World Subject Rankings

Business and Management Studies #251-300 #201-250 #201-250
Accounting and Finance #151-200 #151-200 #101-150
Economics and Econometrics #151-200 #151-200 #201-250

Shanghai Rankings

Management #151-200 #76-100 #76-100
Finance #101-150 #76-100 #76-100
Business Administration #301-400 #51-75 #76-100
Economics #101-150 #101-150 #151-200

Rice University Rankings: Humanities Courses

The ‘Political Science’ program of Rice University has been residing in the rank band #101-150 in Shanghai Rankings for the last 3 years. Similar courses in the humanities stream at Rice University and their respective ranking trends are provided as follows:-

Ranking Body Program Ranking 2024 Ranking 2023 Ranking 2022 Ranking 2021

Shanghai Rankings

Education #201-300 #401-500 #301-400
Political Sciences #101-150 #101-150 #101-150
Sociology #151-200 #151-200 #76-100

QS World Subject Rankings

Modern Languages #251-300 #201-250 #301-320
Sociology #301-340 #251-300
Philosophy #151-200 #101-150 #101-150
Politics #151-200 #151-200 #151-200
Social Sciences and Management #401-450 #368 #303
Arts and Humanities #251 #242 #203
Linguistics #251-300 #201-250 #201-250
English Language and Literature #151-200 #151-200 #151-200

Rice University Rankings: Miscellaneous

Here’s how the Rice University has gathered global recognition not only based on its courses but other aspects of studies as well:-

Ranking Body Parameter Ranking 2022-23

QS WUR

Sustainability Ranking #536
QS WUR By Subject #401-450

US News

National Universities #17
Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs #25
Best Value Schools #5
Biomedical Science #9
Most Innovative Schools #31
Undergraduate Research #27
Best Undergraduate Teaching #6
Learning Communities #14
Top Performers on Social Mobility #184

THE World University Rankings

World University Rankings #119
World Reputation Rankings 2022 #151-175
US Rankings 2022 #18

CWUR

National Rank #61
Employability Rank #107
Research Rank #256
Education Rank #121
Faculty Rank #115

Rice University has been crowned the first and second positions by Niche rankings for ‘Sports Management’ and ‘Arts’ programs, respectively. Additionally, as per the Forbes list, it ranks at #22 among the top colleges and at #20 among the US research universities.