It was a banner year for Rice University’s admissions office. In all, a record 31,424 students applied to the Houston, Texas-based institution. This marked a 6% spike in applications from last year when applications to the Rice Class of 2025 surged 26% to hit a record total of 29,523. Two years ago, for the Rice Class of 2024, applications tallied 23,443. In addition to this year’s skyrocketing applications, Rice’s overall admission rate for the Class of 2026 set a record as well — dropping to 8.56%. This same figure stood at 9.3% for the Class of 2025 and 8.7% for the Class of 2024. And just who earned admission to the Rice University Class of 2026?

As Riya Misra reports for The Rice Thrasher in a piece entitled “Rice hits record low acceptance rate for Class of 2026,” “The 2,700 admitted students include the 510 students admitted last December from the Early Decision and QuestBridge National College Match Programs. The Regular Decision results for the Class of 2026 also come a year after Rice admitted a record number of 2,749 applicants in 2021, keeping in line with their undergraduate expansion plan. [Vice President for Enrollment Yvonne] Romero da Silva said that this year’s increase in applications was likely caused in part by the newly introduced undergraduate business major. ‘The addition of the undergraduate business major has drawn the attention of aspiring business students and entrepreneurs from around the world,’ Romero da Silva said. ‘Students applying to Rice Business represent nine percent of the admitted class, which is comparable to the number of students admitted to the School of Humanities.'”

Congratulations to all students who earned admission to the Rice University Class of 2026 in what turned out to be a banner year for the Houston, Texas-based institution.