2025 College Rankings

Rice University is awash in activism—from administrators to faculty to students. Though it is a major research institution, it has lost its way in recent years.

The administration is especially hostile to free expression. Just 18 percent of students told the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) that they believe it “extremely” or “very” likely that the school would defend a speaker’s right to express controversial views. Rice operates a bias-response system to police speech deemed offensive and earns a “red” speech code rating from FIRE, meaning that its policies clearly and explicitly restrict speech. The school supports a sizable Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) bureaucracy, and half of faculty job postings require a DEI statement.

The faculty is ideologically lopsided. On a scale where 1 is “very liberal” and 7 is “very conservative,” students rate their professors at an average of 2.7. Fewer than 1 percent of faculty campaign donations in the 2023–24 cycle went to conservative causes; nearly 100 percent supported liberal or Democratic ones. Few professors participate in groups that promote intellectual diversity or open inquiry.

Similarly, the student body is also ideologically tilted, though not to the same extent as some super-elite peer institutions. According to FIRE, there is one conservative student for every four liberals. Students remain uneasy about speaking freely: 55 percent say that they self-censor at least once a month. Openness to controversial campus speakers is limited, and in the past five years, there have been several attempts at de-platforming. The most notable came in 2019, when then–Vice President Mike Pence delivered a speech on foreign policy. Despite calls to cancel the event, Pence spoke as protesters picketed outside.

In recent years, Rice has faced a surge of anti-Semitism. The offenders are mostly drawn from the faculty and student body, and administrators have been largely ineffective in addressing the problem. Among professors, a particularly active Faculty for Justice in Palestine chapter has gained prominence. Since the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, several faculty members have issued statements expressing solidarity with Palestine and characterizing the war as “violations of international law against Palestinian civilians in Gaza.” According to the AMCHA Initiative, Rice has seen more than 130 anti-Semitic incidents per 1,000 Jewish students over the past five years, while the administration has largely stood by. This spring, the federal government announced an investigation into the university’s failure to act.

The curriculum at Rice is deficient. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) gives the school an F in its What Will They Learn? ratings, which assign letter grades based on how many of seven core subjects are required in the core curriculum or general education program. Rice does not require students to study civics or U.S. history to graduate but does mandate coursework grounded in DEI ideology. One bright spot is the Houston Institute, an off-campus academic center that invites Rice students to think deeply about questions of human flourishing.

Rice remains a sound investment for students focused on financial returns. On average, it takes just 1.3 years to recoup the cost of a Rice education—well below the overall average of 2.3 years. Still, graduates tend to underperform in median income ten years after initial enrollment.