The information presented in this Annotation represents Rice University management's description of procedures and definitions used to compile and determine amounts presented on the page of statistics concerning commencement and beyond. This information is presented to assist the reader in understanding that page.

Rice University, a small, private, and highly selective research institution in Houston, Texas, has created Statistics for Prospective Undergraduate Students . Detailed definitions and descriptions, sources, and methodologies used in this compilation are described in this and other appropriately linked pages of annotations and apply specifically to this web site. Different time periods reflect unique or official reporting dates and are used to present the most current information available.

Retention and Graduation Rates
(average rates for classes entering 90, 91, and 92)

Retention refers to the number of degree-seeking students who were enrolled at the beginning of an academic year and who returned the fall semester of the following academic year to continue their program of study. The freshman to sophomore year retention rate is the percentage of the first-year students who entered during the fall semesters of 1990, 1991, and 1992 and who returned in the fall semester of the year following their entry.

The graduation rate tracks the number of years to degree attainment for degree-seeking students in each fall semester's
entering class. The figure shown was the average of the six-year graduation rates for classes entering Fall 1990, 1991, and 1992. Of the 1990, 1991, and 1992 first year students, 90% had graduated within six years of their entry into Rice. Rice's graduation rate reflects the time to degree not only for students who progressed within the traditional four years, but it also included those who may have taken a leave of absence of several semesters for personal reasons or for study abroad. Also included are students with double and triple majors.

          Sources: Enrollment information was accessed from AIMS (see footnote 1). The average freshman retention
          and graduation rates for the 1990, 1991, and 1992 entering classes were calculated by the Office of
          Institutional Research from data provided by the Office of the Registrar in Graduated or Last Year
          Registered as of Summer 1998 Report. The latter is available on the web at
          http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~reg/reports/degrees_report/grad_rates.html
 
 

Degrees Awarded, Spring 1999

On May 15, 1999, Rice awarded 702 undergraduate degrees to 667 students. __ of the students had double or triple majors. Professional (fifth-year) degrees in Architecture and Fine Arts were awarded to 18 students. Graduate degrees (master's 346 and doctorates 120) totaled 446 degrees and were awarded to 460 students. Rice has one commencement ceremony each year in the spring; however, those students (undergraduate, graduate, and "fifth year") who complete all degree requirements at the end of the fall semester are eligible for mid-year degree conferral, but diplomas are not issued until the May Commencement.

          Source: The degrees awarded data were accessed from AIMS (see footnote 1). Information on the number of
          undergraduates with multiple majors among the May 1999 graduates was provided by the Registrar. The
          number of degrees awarded and the number of student recipients were reported by the Registrar in the
          document Summary of Degrees Awarded May 15, 1999. This report can be found at
          http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~reg/reports/degrees_report/deg_awarded_99_p1.html
 

Postgraduation Pursuits

These statistics are taken from the results of a questionnaire that was sent by the Office of Institutional Research at Rice
to the graduating seniors in the spring semester 1998. Every four years since 1994, in concert with other institutional members of the Consortium on Financing Higher Education (COFHE), Rice has been surveying its graduating class in order to gauge the seniors, perceptions of their undergraduate experience. The 1998 questionnaire covered such areas at the students, immediate and long-term plans after graduation, their level of satisfaction with their undergraduate education, their evaluation of various services and facilities on campus, the activities in which they participated during college, how they financed their undergraduate education, what Rice could have done to improve their undergraduate experience, etc. Fifty-one percent of the 1998 seniors responded to the survey.

          Source: Senior Survey Spring 1998. The survey results were tabulated by COFHE and sent to Rice for
          analysis. The data were analyzed and reported by the Office of Institutional Research. These data are
          considered confidential and proprietary; so, the data, analyses, and work files are kept in a secure environment
          in files in the Office of Institutional Research.
 
 

Recent National Recognition
(as of May 3, 1999)

These are national scholarships and fellowships that were awarded to some of Rice's undergraduate and graduate students. Information on the requirements for most of these fellowships and scholarships can be found on the Rice web site at:

           http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~acadadv/scholarship/natsch.html
 

• Beinecke Memorial Scholarships

• Winston Churchill Foundation Scholarships

• Fulbright Scholarships

• Goldwater Scholarships

• Luce Scholars

• Marshall Scholarships

•  Mellon Fellowships

• National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowships:     http://www.acq.osd.mil/ddre/research/opportunities.html#anchor1575326

• National Science Foundation Fellowships

Rice University NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Awards for Fiscal Year 1999:
 

Name  Bala, Vikram  Chi, Eric Culbert  Cole, Roger Barto Cowles, Brendan Eugene  Dunn, Travis Bailey  Gallagher, Daphne Elizabeth  Geels, Dennis Michael  Henderson, James Henry  Merryman, Sharon Kae  Morris, Grayson Edward  Nelson, Jill Karen  Smith, Jeff S.  Stone, Mira Beth  Tan, Jeff Shun-Wei  Tsai, Annabel T.S.  Wolfe, Daniel Brandon

Major  E/MATERIAL  E/ELECTRICAL  CHEM/ORGANIC  E/MATERIAL  CHEM/ORGANIC  ANTHR/ARCH  CS/SYS DSN  E/BIOENGR  MATH/ALGEBRA  E/MECHANICAL  E/ELECTRICAL  EVOLUTION  E/ENVIRON  NEUROSCI  E/BIOENGR  CHEM/OTHER

Institution of Study Stanford U  M.I.T.  Yale U-School of Medicine  Stanford U  Harvard U  U College-London, England  Stanford U  Stanford U  Harvard U  M.I.T.  U of Illinois-Urbana  Emory U  U of Virginia-Charlottesville  U of California-Berkeley  U of Washington  Harvard U

Rice University NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Awards for Fiscal Year 1998:
 

Name  Adolph, Christopher Alan  Burant, John Charles  Dror, Ron Ofer  Elliott, Meghan Elizabeth  Epps, Clinton Wakefield  Gilyot, Duane David  Goetz, David Henry  Grossman, Daniel Joseph  Gupta, Maya Rani  Harms, Brian David  Hastings, Michele Dawn  Hoffman, Kari Lee  Hunter, Adam Robert  Knuteson, Bruce Owen  Lewis, Rebecca Austin  Liu, Valerie Ai-Ling  Lovato, Martha Ann  Nurman, Lucia Arlis  Pasadyn, Alexander James  Penn, Alexander Hayes  Pierce, Aaron Thomas  Rahmandar, Jennifer Joy  Shorey, Jamie Margaret  Stone, Matthew Thad  Walter, Benjamin Charles  Yoder, Tennessee Joplin  Yue, Herman Heng

Major  POLIT SCI  CHEM/THEOR  E/ELECTRCL  E/CIVIL  ECOLOGY  MATH/STATS  LIFE/OTHER  CS/LANG  E/ELECTRCL  E/BIOENGR  GENETICS  NEUROSCI  CS/OTHER  PHYS/PART  ANIMAL BEH  E/BIOENGR  BIO/ORGAN  MOLEC BIOL  E/CHEMICAL  E/BIOENGR  PHYS/PART  CELL BIOL  E/ELECTRCL  E/CHEMICAL  MATH/TOPOL  CELL BIOL  DEVEL BIO

Institution of Study Harvard U  Yale U/CT  MIT  U of California-Berkeley  Yale U/CT  U of California-Berkeley  U of Washington  Cornell U/NY  Stanford U/CA  Harvard-MIT Health Sci/Tech  Stanford U/CA  U of Arizona  Stanford U/CA  U of California-Berkeley  U of California-Davis  MIT  Stanford U  Stanford U/CA  U of Texas-Austin  U of Washington  U of California-Berkeley  Columbia U/NY  U of Ill.-Urbana-Champaign  U of Texas-Austin  MIT  U of Washington  Harvard U

• Phi Beta Kappa Initiates http://www.pbk.org

• Rhodes Scholarships

• Truman Scholarships

• Udall Foundation

• Watson Fellowships

• Whitaker Foundation Fellowships http://www.whitaker.org/grants/fellanc.html

          Sources: This information is found on the Rice University and other web sites. Additional sources were used to
          confirm the information, including correspondence with the Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and
          correspondence with award sponsors.

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Last updated May 31,2000.