The Hardman Rankings

← World University Rankings 2026

Rice University

United StatesROR 008zs3103
#34
World University Rankings 2026 · 90% range 27–66 of 1,240 · score 73.7
Research Index 129

How it scores

Research
90
Alumni outcomes
96
Admissions & earnings
19/157

Research and Alumni outcomes are percentiles among 1,240 universities; alumni outcomes are counted per student. Admissions & earnings is the position among universities in the same country (United States).

Admissions, outcomes and alumni

Admit rate
8.0% src
Average SAT
1,553 src
Yield (admits who enrol)
46% src
Median earnings 10 years after entry
$89,718 src
40-year return on investment (Georgetown CEW)
$3.08M src
Average net price per year
$13,370 src
Graduation rate (6 years)
95% src
Rhodes Scholars, 2021–26
1 src
Internationally notable alumni (Wikidata)
29 src
Heads of state or government (Wikidata)
0 src
Students (undergraduate / total)
4,776 / 8,167

Each figure links to its source. Admissions and earnings figures are comparable only within a country.

Research Index

A · Quality
97.0
B · Strength
67.7

Percentiles among 1,305 ranked universities. Rank on quality alone: =36. On strength alone: 422. The Research Index scores research only; admissions, earnings and alumni outcomes are scored in the overall ranking where data exists.

The numbers behind it (2020–2023)

Papers in the top 10% of their field
16.3% (15.3%–17.4%)
Papers in the top 1% of their field
2.0% (1.6%–2.4%)
Top-10% papers (fractional count)
498
All papers (fractional count)
3,046
International co-authored
47.9%
Open access
65.3%
Papers from 2020–23 since retracted
1 (0.12 per 1,000)

Core publications, fractional counting, field-normalised citation shares. Brackets show Leiden’s stability interval. Collaboration and open-access shares use full counting and aren’t field-normalised. Retraction counts come from the Retraction Watch database and include publishers’ mass retractions as well as honest-error retractions; a retraction is not by itself evidence of misconduct, and the count is never scored.

By field

Biomedical & health sciences=290range 192–457 of 1,671
Life & earth sciences141range 70–259 of 1,092
Mathematics & computer science=116range 73–238 of 1,391
Physical sciences & engineering40range 24–70 of 1,742
Social sciences & humanities=331range 207–533 of 1,262

Position over time

top 10%2006–2009: 59 of 5712020–2023: 129 of 1,305

The same method applied to each 4-year publication window. The number of ranked universities grows from period to period, so position is shown as a share of the field.

How other rankings place it

129Research Index 2026
–QS 2027 (not in top 100)
–THE 2027 (not in top 100)
–ARWU 2026 (not in top 100)

Other rankings are cited for comparison. The Research Index measures research only; QS and THE also use reputation surveys and figures universities submit, and ARWU counts prize winners and total output.

Prize winners

Alumni laureates
4
Staff laureates
4

Alumni: 3 Nobel, 1 Abel Prize. Most recent: Louis E. Brus (Nobel Chemistry, 2023), Dennis Sullivan (Abel Prize, 2022), Robert Curl (Nobel Chemistry, 1996), Robert Wilson (Nobel Physics, 1978). Counted from Wikidata (CC0). Alumni laureates count toward the overall ranking per student (10 of 65 global weight points); staff laureates are shown for context only.