Majors with the Highest Percentages of Graduates, 2004
This category listed the nine undergraduate majors with the highest percentages
of graduates at May 2004 graduation
(includes B.A., B.S. and B. Music). A total of 703 undergraduate degrees were
awarded. Rice has one commencement ceremony each year in the spring; however,
those students 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.
Sources:
The number of graduates in each major was accessed from Banner. Data on the
number and percentages
of undergraduate degrees awarded May 2004 were derived from the IPEDS
Completions Survey 2003-2004.
Schools and Areas of Study
Departmental majors listed were available for Fall 2004.
In addition, Rice prides itself on the numbers of students who earn
multiple degrees and/or pursue interdisciplinary or
interdepartmental majors, which reflect the unique nature not only
of the students, but the faculty as well. Interdepartmental Majors
combine courses that are taught by faculty from more than one department.
In the School of Humanities, interdisciplinary majors are available
in Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations, Asian Studies,
Medieval Studies, and the Study of Women and Gender, while an interdepartmental
major in Policy Studies combines
courses from the School of Humanities and the School of Social Sciences.
In the School of Social Sciences, the interdepartmental Policy Studies
major, the Cognitive Sciences major, and the Managerial Studies major
incorporate course work in the Schools of Engineering and Management.
In the School of Architecture, students interested in architecture
may choose between the four-year B.A. program or the
six-year Bachelor of Architecture (B. Arch) degree. Students completing
the four-year B.A. who have been admitted to the B. Arch program during
their senior year spend a fifth year in a working preceptorship with an
architectural firm, returning to Rice to complete a final year of architectural
study for the degree.
In the Shepherd School of Music, a music student may opt for either a B.A. in Music or a Bachelor of Music (B.Mus.) degree in Performance, Composition , Music History, or Music Theory. Students who pass the qualifying exam may elect an honors program that leads to the simultaneous awarding of the B.Mus. and the Master of Music (M.Mus.) degrees after 5 years of study, the final two years of which are devoted to the student’s particular specialization.
In the Wiess School of Natural Science, all natural science departments--including Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chemistry, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Earth Science, Mathematics, Physics, and Space Physics and Astronomy, with the single exception of the last--offer programs leading to the B.A.degree. Majors include biochemistry, biology, chemical physics, chemistry, geology, geophysics, mathematics, and physics. Students may also elect double majors combining one of the programs in natural sciences with another science, a humanities discipline, or an engineering field.
In the George R. Brown School of Engineering, students may elect a double major by combining environmental science with another science or engineering field. These programs lead to either the B.A. or B.S. degree and may qualify students for further graduate study.
In the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management, the Masters of Business Administration (M.B.A.) program includes elective offerings in accounting, entrepreneurship, finance, international business, management information systems, marketing, operations management, organizational behavior and human resource management, health-care management, and strategic management and planning. Also, the Jones Graduate School of Business and the George R. Brown School of Engineering offer a joint M.B.A./Masters of Engineering degree.
Sources:
Information on departmental majors, interdisciplinary majors, and interdepartmental
majors can be
found in Rice University
General Announcements 2004-2005 catalog, which is available from the Office
of
Admission, and
can be found on-line at http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~catalog/.
Degrees
The listed degrees were those undergraduate and graduate degrees offered for Fall 2004. The specific requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree vary widely. No department may specify more than 80 semester hours (required courses, prerequisites and related laboratories included) for the Bachelor of Arts. As a rule however, the majors leading to the B.A. at Rice are designed to fit the following parameters. To qualify for a B.A.:
To earn a B.S. degree, students met the following minimum semester
hour requirements in successful course work:
Candidates for master’s degrees completed a minimum 30 hours of study (including
thesis hours), 24 of which must be taken at Rice. Ph.D. candidates completed
90 hours of advanced study concluding in an approved thesis.
Sources: More
information on degrees available, required coursework, faculty, and other
requirements can be
found in Rice University
General Announcements 2004-2005 catalog, which is available from the Office
of
Admission, and
can be found on-line at http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~catalog/.
Cooperative Degree Programs
Rice offers cooperative degrees with other institutions throughout the nation. Baylor College of Medicine with Rice, offers a joint M.D., and advanced research degree for research careers in medicine. A religious studies degree can be obtained through a joint Rice and The University of Texas Health Science Center program; and a doctor of philosophy degree can be attained by study with the Baylor College of Medicine and Institute of Religion. Additionally, a joint program in Computational Biology with Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Houston, and Rice offers training opportunities for Ph.D. students through research in a lab setting, seminars and workshops, and access to advanced resources of the W. M. Keck Center for Computational Biology.
Sources:
More information on degrees available, required coursework, and other requirements
can be found in
Rice University General
Announcements 2004-2005 catalog, which is available from the Office of
Admission, and can be
found on-line at http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~catalog/.
Foreign Study and Exchange Programs 2003-2004
Rice University is currently involved in forty-eight (48) undergraduate exchange programs in seventy (70) countries. Some of the programs include:
Global Engineering Education
Exchange
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (science and engineering only)
C.D. Broad Trinity -
Trinity College, Cambridge University
Lancaster University
University of Bristol
Sciences Politique
Federation of German-American
Clubs
Technical University
of Dresden
JTW: Japan in Today's
World - Kyushu University
University of Natal
Middle East Technical
University
Sources: More
information on study abroad programs and other requirements can be found at
http://abroad.rice.edu.
During Fall 2003, 245 Rice undergraduate students participated in various study abroad programs.
Sources: Data
was obtained from the International Programs Office at Rice University.
Go to Rice University Statistics for Prospective Undergraduate Students
Go to Statistics on Majors, Schools, and Degrees
Last updated December 8, 2004.