Hometown Glory
Archies rejoice! Rice architecture ranked among the top five in the country
Everyone knows Rice University is one of the top engineering schools in the country, but believe it or not, there's more on campus than just science nerds.
Rice's small but prestigious undergraduate architecture program earned a top ranking from Design Intelligence, which worked with Greenway Group to evaluate accredited undergraduate and graduate architecture programs on behalf of the Design Futures Council. The ranking measures the opinions of design professionals who have experience hiring and working with recent architecture graduates.
Rice's undergraduate program ranked fifth, a slight dip from 2011's third-place finish. Rice architecture may be one of the best programs in the country, but it's not the best in the state. The University of Texas holds that honor, rising to the No. 2 spot from No. 7 last year.
The two colleges have taken turns as the best program in Texas recently, while Cornell has dominated the national rankings, taking the top spot six out of the past seven years. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo round out the top five undergraduate programs.
Among graduate architecture programs, no Texas school appeared in the top 10, which was led by Harvard, Yale and Columbia.