Rice University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational institution whose 2,600 undergraduate students and 1,200 graduate students pursue degrees in engineering, architecture, music, and the arts and sciences. Rice's beautiful campus, with its consistent neo-fourteenth-century Italian style of architecture and its many live oaks, is located in the center of the nation's fourth largest city. The library resources available at Rice University's Fondren Library include over 1.1 million volumes with over 6900 current journal subscriptions; the microform collection holds over 1.3 million pieces.

Adjacent to Rice University is Hermann Park, with its free summer ballets, symphony concerts, operas, Shakespearean plays, and the Zoo. The Museum of Fine Arts, with a fine permanent collection and various traveling exhibits, and the Contemporary Arts Museum, Burke Baker Planetarium, and the Museum of Natural Science are all within walking distance of the campus. Also available is theatre, first-run films, and major-league baseball. At Rice University there exist excellent athletic facilities for tennis, swimming, racquetball, squash, handball, and basketball. There are several public golf courses and a riding stable a short walk from Rice. The Gulf of Mexico beaches at Galveston, with its many fine Victorian mansions and homes, are only forty-five minutes away by car.