Rice Full-time MBA program has earned the title of the most affordable top MBA program in addition to earning the distinction of ranking in the top 10 schools for Finance, Consulting and for minority representation.

In this in-depth analysis of Rice Full-time MBA program, we cover:

• Rice Full-Time MBA Class Profile
• Rice Full-Time MBA – Fee
• Rice Full Time MBA Scholarships and Financial Aid
• Rice Full-Time MBA Curriculum
• Rice MBA Global Concentration
• Rice MBA Experiential Learning
• Rice MBA Leadership Development
• Rice MBA Application Process
• Rice Full-Time MBA Salary by Industry (2021)
• Rice Full Time MBA Salary by Function (2021) 

Rice Full-Time MBA Class Profile

The 2021 entering Rice MBA class had 178 students with the class having a work experience of 5 years. The GMAT requirement was lower (705) while GPA (3.51) was at par with top US MBA programs. Compared to US MBA programs the percentage of female candidates was on the lower side (33%). However, the international class composition (39%) and US minorities (30%) - balances the diversity quotient of the class.

Rice Full-Time MBA – Fee

The total fee for the Rice Full-Time MBA program is $134,166 that includes a $66,000 tuition fee (per year), $400 MBA activity, and $628 health and wellness support fees.

Rice Full Time MBA Scholarships and Financial Aid

Rice Full-time MBA is the most affordable MBA when you consider the cost vs. immediate post-MBA salary. The plethora of merit-based and need-based scholarships is a reason the program earned this unique title. For 2020-21, 75% of the Full-Time MBA students won merit-based scholarships which covered almost 50% of the tuition costs.

All students are automatically considered for the merit-based scholarships. These scholarship winners are notified during the admission process.

Scholarship

Rice Full-time MBA offers funding support primarily through four scholarships – Rice Business Scholarships, Military Scholars programs, The McNair Scholars program and the Crownover Scholars Program.

International students have six scholarships while the Rice Business Scholarship program with 100 scholarships cover a large section of industries, functions, nationalities, and demographics.

Loans

Loans offered at Rice Full-Time MBA Program are primarily provided through three programs - Federal Student Loan, Texas State Grant, and Private Student Loans.

Texas State Grant

For residents of Texas with financial need, the Texas State grant is offered on a first come first-serve basis. To avail of the loan, applicants must be able to prove at least one year of residency

Federal Student Loan

US citizens or permanent residents qualify for the Federal Student Loan disbursed by the Department of Education. A maximum of $20,500 loan amount is offered in one year. The loan interest rate for a Full-Time course is fixed as, 6.543%.

Private Student Loan: Private Student Loan is a loan option available as an alternative or with the combination of the Federal Student Loan. The terms and approvals are based on the applicant’s creditworthiness as determined by the lender.

Rice Full-Time MBA Curriculum

Rice MBA Course Schedule

Rice Full Time MBA program have obtained STEM designation that allows international students to extend their 12-months Optional Practical Training (OPT) post-graduation residence visa to an additional 24 months.

Students in the first year are required to follow the core curriculum whereas those in Second year can opt from more than 100 electives.

First-Year Curriculum includes a foundation in management studies covering Organizational Behaviour, Data Analysis, Finance, Marketing and Managerial Economics with Negotiations and Leadership course also included to balance the technical orientation with managerial skills.

Once the student has completed the requirement of the core curriculum, they can opt for more than 100 electives in their second year. These electives cover Managerial Accounting, Corporate Responsibility, Government Relations, Operations Management, Portfolio Management, Applied Predictive Modeling, Applied Risk Management, Energy Derivatives, Corporate Real Estate, Brand Strategy, and Business Law.

Concentrations

Rice Full-Time MBA students can also choose the themes of the electives through 2 concentrations from the 9 options available. These concentrations would be mentioned in the transcript.

Rice MBA Global Concentration

Global exposure at Rice MBA is offered through three programs - Global Field Experience, Global Offsite Elective and International Exchange programs. These Global concentrations at Rice have so far served 234 clients and completed 458 consulting projects in 15 countries with 8 international institutional partners.

Global Field Experience: Global Field Experience is a required immersive Global Learning Opportunity. The curriculum is structured around emerging markets with Latin America as the focus in recent times. Even those who take other global concentrations – Global Offsite Elective and International Exchange programs are required to take the field experience.

Global Offsite Elective: Under Global Offsite Elective, each year a faculty from certain electives in Rice hosts sessions abroad. The students can join the optional session and explore different cultures, ideas, and thoughts.

Study Abroad or International Exchange and Seminars: Under the International Exchange program the students opting for Full Time MBA from Rice can study abroad for one term or a semester at one of the partnership schools. The International seminars are hosted by global business schools. Students must opt-in both during the first and second year to participate. Previous International Seminars include Doing Business in Mexico Seminar with IPADE Business School (Mexico City,Spring Break), WHU European MBA Summer Institute: WHU, Germany (Summer Break), and INCAE Sustainability Seminar: INCAE University(Costa Rica, Winter Break).

Rice MBA Experiential Learning

Rice Full-time MBA’s four experiential learning programs are Capstone Course, Action Learning Project, Experiential Labs, and Entrepreneurship labs.

• Capstone Course: Rice MBA's capstone course has served over 185 organizations. The 1900+ students participating in the course over the past 9 years served mid-sized organizations and sub-division of large organizations in Houston. A typical capstone course assisted the organization with growth strategies (immediate and multi-year), turning around distressed organizations, creating business plan for new projects, assisting with financial stabilizations, and implementing replication strategies.

• Action Learning Project: ALP is a thirteen-week elective program based on a consultative team project covering topics in Strategy, Marketing, Finance, HR and Organizational Behavior, Operations and Supply Chain.

• Experiential Lab: The Experiential Lab are designed for those students who want an in-depth exploration of their preferred post-MBA industry with leadership development as the learning objective. Rice offers these labs in Healthcare Strategy, Supply Chain Management Lab, Operations Lab: Health Care, Renewable and Energy Transition Lab, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Lab. Each labs involve field visits, requirement gathering by interviewing stakeholders, redesigning processes, and also include studying the impact of investment decisions, actions and policies on the communities.

• Entrepreneurship Lab: Rice offers additional Advanced Entrepreneurship labs to the Full-Time MBA graduates. The big attraction for the lab is the Student Venture Fund that allows students to evaluate start-up investment opportunities for the Rice Venture Capital Fund. The analytical tools and frameworks assist those who are pursuing goals in entrepreneurship and managing venture capital in the short-term.

Rice MBA Leadership Development

Rice Full Time MBA program offers the students variety of opportunities to create networks and develop leadership skills. Since leadership development is the most desired skill among MBA candidates, Rice prioritizes 9 avenues to offer a holistic leadership development experience:

1) Action Learning Projects are semester-long projects overseen by academic mentors where students work with companies on strategy, marketing, valuation, supply chain, talent management and investments. Although the engagement is not paid like an internship, the broad functional skillset developed - competitor analysis, market research, pricing strategy, valuation, global supply chain management, and change management, suits candidates interested in entering a consulting function post-MBA.

2) Athena Group: The student-run marketing agency helps students apply the core concepts learned in marketing to real-world projects through market research, evaluating feasibility of a product with live feedback from clients, designing scalable websites, and developing marketing strategies for all communication channels.

3) The Rice Conferences and Case competition covers a broad range of themes. The popular ones include the Women in Leadership Conference, an annual conference that brings together women leaders for networking and exchanging ideas that support women's growth & equitable access to opportunities.

On the industry side - Rice Energy Finance Summit (REFS), an annual event that brings 400+ Rice Energy industry professionals, advisors, policymakers, investors, and senior executives to discuss about pressing problems affecting the global energy industry.

On issues affecting diversity, the Diversity and Inclusion Conference explore ideas that encourage inclusion and diversity in values & outlook. The school's Veteran cohort hosts the annual Veterans Business Battle that support veteran-only business through a business competition for a total of $3.5 million in prize money.

The prestigious of them all is the Rice Business Plan competition - the world's largest graduate student start-up competition that brings some of the best start-up ideas to one platform. Over the past 20 years, the competition has raised more than $2.3 billion with the prize money set at $1 million.

4) Rice Business Board Fellow: The year-long experiential learning matches Rice Business Boards fellow with local non-profit boards where the students take on the role as a non-voting member, overseeing governance and understanding the constraints and opportunities in the non-profits space.

5) Leadership and Team Coaching: Under this program, the Doer Institute for New Leaders trains the students based on their journey and the place they would like to work in the future. The flexible leadership development is tailor made with one on one coaches as a clear differentiator.

6) The Mentor Collective: The mentor-oriented leadership program enables second-year MBA graduates to guide first-year students on the challenges of acclimatizing to an academic-oriented schedule, orient towards finding internship opportunities, and finding the right balance between community engagement and pursuing professional goals.

7) Students Managed Funds: Students selected through a rigorous admission process and interview are given the opportunity to manage two funds - M.A. Wright Fund, and Rice Fixed Income Fund. Through the fund management, students learn to apply quantitative evaluation techniques, and risk analysis to achieve the portfolio targets.

8) Students Clubs and Organization: The leadership and organizing roles at over 30+ Rice Student Clubs and organization allows students to develop their leadership skill in a peer-to-peer context while building their social skills and talent.

9) Industry Trek: Students in coordination with the Career Development Office and alumni embark on industry treks across the US. These company visits offer an insider perspective on the daily challenges of the post-MBA roles the students are aspiring to attain. With the feedback, Rice MBA students can pivot to other roles that match their skillset and interests.

Rice Full-Time MBA Application Process

Rice Full-Time MBA program requires a USD 200 application fee. To receive fee waiver, an applicant must be a US military veteran, dual degree applicant, or a University alumni.

Along with the application form, the students also need to submit scanned copies of their official transcripts. Other deliverables include GMAT, GRE, or Executive assessment scores.

Students also need to enclose proof of work experience and certificates of the extra co-curricular activities if they hold any.  Along with it, a short answer of a minimum of 100 words and an essay for a minimum of 500 words are compulsory for the application.

If the student is submitting the current supervisor’s recommendation letter, only 1 recommendation letter is required. Otherwise, two recommendation letters with at least one from a professional supervisor is mandatory. Since the letters are in a GMAC Common Letter of Recommendation format, the questions will be similar for both.  

Rice Full-time MBA Application Requirements:

•  GMAT, GRE/ Executive Assessment Results
•   Professional Resume
•   Letter of Recommendation (2/1)
•   Application Fee of US$200
•   Short Answer and Essay
•   English Proficiency Test Scores for International students

Rice Full-Time MBA Salary by Industry (2021)

Over 10 industries were represented at the Rice Full-time MBA program with Consulting, Consumer Products, Financial Services, Technology, Petroleum/Energy, Manufacturing, Media/Entertainment, Healthcare taking the lion share of the talent.

Consulting offers topped the placements taking in 32.04% of the class on a median base salary of $157,500. Financial Services hired the second-highest number of students (21.76%) with $150,000 median base salary – a standard in top US MBA programs

Rice Full Time MBA Salary by Function (2021)

Rice Full Time MBA Program offered more than 6 functions to the graduates in more than 10 different industries. 34.6% of students were hired in Consulting with an annual median base salary of $155,000 - the highest earning function at Rice full-time MBA. Finance/Accounting was second, hiring 33.3% of graduates with a $136,500 median base salary package. Unlike other US schools, General Management earned $140,000 annual median base salary which was higher than the Finance function. 7.7% of the class accepted offers in the function, ahead of Marketing/Sales (6.4%) & Operations and Logistics (6.4%)

Rice Full-Time MBA- US Placement Data

Most offers (72.6%) were concentrated in Southwest region with a median base salary of $150,000. West US region was second (15.1%) with a lower median base salary. Rest of the regions had lower hiring percentage and a correspondingly lower median base salary.

Reference
Rice Full Time MBA