Rice slashes student costs by $650M over 5 years with free tuition program

President Reginald DesRoches: 'Exceptional talent should never be hindered by financial barriers'

HOUSTON, Dec. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Rice University is proud to celebrate over five years of transforming access to higher education through The Rice Investment, the university's signature financial aid program. Introduced in the 2019-20 academic year, the program fully covers the cost of attendance — including tuition, living expenses and fees — for low-income students, provides free tuition for many middle-income students, and offers half-tuition assistance to some upper-income families.

Since the start of this groundbreaking program, the university has awarded over $651 million in total grant aid — a 54% increase compared to the previous five years. In the 2023-24 academic year alone, nearly $152 million in grant aid was awarded, reaffirming Rice's long-standing commitment to affordability and opportunity.

Rice is also loan-free for all students — a level of guaranteed aid that exceeds the majority of top-ranked universities.

"At Rice, we believe that exceptional talent should never be hindered by financial barriers," Rice President Reginald DesRoches said. "The success of The Rice Investment has solidified our commitment to ensuring that a Rice education remains accessible to students from all economic backgrounds. This program is so much more than just a financial aid package – it represents a profound investment in our students and their future."

First announced in the summer of 2018, The Rice Investment positioned the university as a trailblazer in expanding need-based financial aid for low- and middle-income families with typical assets. What truly sets this program apart is its comprehensive approach: In addition to offering full-tuition scholarships to students from families earning under $140,000, those with incomes between $140,000 and $200,000 qualify for at least a half-tuition scholarship — a rarity among financial aid initiatives nationwide.

Moreover, students from families making less than $75,000 receive full coverage for tuition, fees and living expenses. Rice also meets 100% of demonstrated financial need for families outside these income thresholds.

"The Rice Investment is one of the most transformative initiatives I've had the privilege to help shape," said Yvonne Romero, vice president for enrollment and dean of admissions and financial aid. "By significantly expanding our financial aid offerings and simplifying how we communicate them, we've set a new standard in higher education, inspiring other institutions to reimagine their own approaches. This initiative opens doors for students who might have previously believed a Rice education was beyond their reach."

More than half (53%) of Rice undergraduates receive some level of financial aid. In the 2023-24 academic year, Rice's average annual financial aid package for those receiving aid reached a record $63,233, which covers 80% of the total cost of attendance — a 13-percentage-point increase since 2015 — and exceeds the cost of tuition. Texas residents have benefited significantly, too. Among the Texas students entering in fall 2023, 66% received financial aid with an average aid package of $62,387.

Thanks to initiatives like The Rice Investment, the percentage of students graduating with student loan debt has decreased from 25% before the program's implementation to 14% in the most recent graduating class. This figure is expected to decline as students who enrolled under the loan-free commitment, introduced in 2022, begin to graduate.

While the program is currently funded by donations, the university's endowment and its operating budget, Rice is in the process of raising money to sustain the program for years to come. Since The Rice Investment was announced, the university has raised more than $96 million in scholarship endowments, as well as millions more in current-use gifts. 

To be considered for The Rice Investment, students must complete the standard financial aid application requirements for need-based aid. Learn more about The Rice Investment here.

About Rice University
Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Texas, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of architecture, business, continuing studies, engineering and computing, humanities, music, natural sciences and social sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. Internationally, the university maintains the Rice Global Paris Center, a hub for innovative collaboration, research and inspired teaching located in the heart of Paris. With 4,776 undergraduates and 4,104 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 7 for best-run colleges by the Princeton Review.

SOURCE Rice University