Houston, TX · Private · Every figure is for a student starting in fall 2027. We work each one out again whenever we update the site.
How to pay for Rice University
What a year costs here, what brings it down, and what a SmartTuition plan could save a family like yours.
Paying for four years here
Four years here, after grants
$69,925
A SmartTuition plan could save a family like this about $3,500.
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester, using your own numbers.
Build your SmartTuition plan for Rice University, $99 →Best once your award letter arrives. No letter yet? Get the monthly email.
A family of four with good credit and $500 a month for college. How we worked these out ↓
A year at Rice University
| Full price | $97,972 |
| After grants, at your income | $18,689 |
56% of first-year students here got a grant or scholarship from the college in 2023-24, $53,802 on average.
At this income, 28 of Texas's other 58 colleges cost less after grants, and 30 cost more. See them all →
What can bring it down
Merit scholarships. All admitted freshmen are considered automatically for merit scholarships, with no separate application or interview. The Office of Admission tells the winners at the time of admission.
Rice University's promise. Rice University says it covers 100% of what a family cannot pay. The conditions ↓
Pay less for college
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester.
At Rice University, our scenarios for Texas households with good parent credit show a SmartTuition plan saving a median of about $3,700 over four years. How we worked this out ↓
Considering more than one college?
Put the schools you are considering on one list and we price each of them for your family. It is free. It asks what you earn and what you have saved, never your name.
Put your schools side by side →Merit scholarships
What Rice University says it awards for grades and test scores.
All admitted freshmen are considered automatically for merit scholarships, with no separate application or interview. The Office of Admission tells the winners at the time of admission.
What Rice University commits to
Rice University says it covers 100% of what a family cannot pay.
“Additionally, we offer need-blind admission for domestic students, as well as meet 100% of demonstrated need for undergraduate admitted students inclusive of International Students through financial aid, regardless of whether they qualify for The Rice Investment.”
Rice University financial aid office — verified 2026-09.
Conditions the school attaches to that commitment
- The same page says a family with assets above what is typical for its income may not qualify for The Rice Investment. Rice still commits to covering what the family cannot pay.
- Need-blind admission is stated for domestic students.
These are the school’s own qualifiers. A commitment quoted without them is not the commitment they made.
Published guarantees you may qualify for
We do not assume you qualify for any of these, and our plans never bank on them. Check each against your own situation with the aid office.
Rice Investment: tuition, mandatory fees, room and board covered for families earning less than $100,000
Household income up to $99,999. Covers tuition, fees, housing, food.
- For students entering in fall 2027 and later. Rice will continue to meet 100% of demonstrated financial need without requiring student loans.
“Students from families earning less than $100,000 annually will receive full coverage of tuition, mandatory fees, and room and board.”
Rice Investment: free tuition for families earning between $100,000 and $200,000
Household income up to $200,000. Covers tuition.
- For students entering in fall 2027 and later. Rice will continue to meet 100% of demonstrated financial need without requiring student loans.
“Students from families earning between $100,000 and $200,000 annually will receive free tuition.”
How we worked these out
The family
A family of four with good parent credit and $500 a month to put toward college, and the savings you pick. In state, the grants are what Rice University reports families at that income got, on average. Your own will differ, and a family with no aid pays close to the full price.
What a SmartTuition plan saves
The difference, over four years, between a SmartTuition plan and the standard approach: savings first, then loans for the rest. It counts loan interest and the federal tax credit.
The $3,700 in the “Pay less for college” box near the top of this page is the median saving in Rice University's own scenarios. Each scenario is a household that lives in Texas, with an income from $45,000 to $200,000 and savings of none, $40,000 or $100,000 in a 529. We price Rice University at the aid it reports for that income.
Every scenario has parents with good credit and $500 a month toward college. The card above uses the same two. A scenario where the parents would borrow more than $65,000 is left out.
The prices by income
- They describe students who got aid.
- “Over $110,000” has no upper limit, so it averages families just over $110,000 with far wealthier ones. A family at $115,000 should expect to pay less than it shows.
- Each range is reported on its own, so the prices do not always rise with income.
Grants from the college
How many first-year students got a grant from Rice University, and the average, are the Department of Education's figures for full-time students who started in 2023-24. They cover every income. The prices after grants already count these grants, so don't take them off again. The Department of Education's page for Rice University →
Where the prices come from
Where the prices come from: Rice University's own 2026-27 tuition, fees, housing and food, from its website, carried forward to 2027 at 4.0% a year. Books are the College Scorecard's. The grants are the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard (2025-26 figures), carried forward the same way. Each price after grants is the cost less those grants. The average price after grants counts the students who get federal aid. Your own figure will be different.
SmartTuition.ai is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Rice University. Aid policies change; check current terms with the college's aid office.
Nearby at your income
- UT San Antonio$18,484 a year
- Prairie View A&M$18,675 a year
- Rice University$18,689 a year
- University of St Thomas$20,827 a year
- Hardin-Simmons University$20,993 a year
What each college charges, less the average grant for your income. Every Texas college →