I love that Rice is adding 300 new first year student seats next year. Why don't more colleges add seats?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is not just a matter of adding a dorm. They would have to raise course enrollment sizes then, build larger classrooms, and/or hire more professors and TAs, build offices for those professors, etc., unless parents are fine with larger classes, crappier grading due to staff shortages, and cramped facilities.

not for 300 more kids. they offer way more than 300 courses! adding one kid to your course load over 3 classes will not break a teacher or a classroom

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many have been, and then parents and students and the community complain about over-crowded dorms, the school renting hotels, etc.

True. But Rice has been slowly expanding from 4000 to 5200 students over a few years. And they've built the infrastructure for it, including a new residential college. There's nothing haphazard about it. No one at Rice is enduring hotels or overcrowded dorms. Some years ago, the school decided it wanted to be a little bigger and planned accordingly. They certainly have the endowment for it.

This is how you do it. I realize not every university has the space to pull this off, but turning doubles into triples appears to be the new norm but cramming kids into small spaces together isn’t healthy.

+1
There are already so many people in houston. It's so crowded everywhere and squashing students like sardines will fit right in with the culture. The reputation has not caught up with reality.

This is just so uninformed. If anything, Houston could benefit from some population density. The city is too spread out. Likewise, the campus does not feel squished at all. Who knows if the expansion of the student body is a good thing for Rice, but this line of reasoning is misguided.

[Anonymous]

Makes sense - southern and texas schools are growing, it's where more of the population is moving and is now seen by traditional upper class as a viable option.

Rice is going to be one of the southern elites in a decade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would think the biggest issue would be attracting quality and qualified professors.

Given the academic job market, they will have zero problems attracting quality and qualified professors.

The trend is to hire adjunct and other contingent faculty because tenure/tenure track professors are considered too expensive. This hurts educational quality for everyone.

https://news.rice.edu/news/2025/growing-university-rice-welcomes-97-new-faculty-bolster-teaching-research

"The university is experiencing exceptional growth in its enrollment, which is matched by a similar increase in faculty. Fifty-seven tenured and tenure-track faculty will join Rice this academic year, and 40 nontenure track faculty will join Rice this calendar year."

I would bet anything that the rate of increase in nontenure track faculty is higher than the rate of increase in tenure track professors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, do you want Rice to become Northeastern? Expanding and having satellite campuses everywhere? Is that what you want? Scarcity is the key.

Scarcity is key if college is all about signaling. If college is actually about education, scarcity would be irrelevant. You would admit everyone who can meet the course requirements and afford it, and expand the facilities to match.

[Anonymous]

So they're going from 1000 to 1300.

The flippant way the thread title refers to a 30% population increase shows an ignorance about the resources needed to students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Makes sense - southern and texas schools are growing, it's where more of the population is moving and is now seen by traditional upper class as a viable option.

Rice is going to be one of the southern elites in a decade.

Rice already is a southern elite and national elite. And Houston is a vibrant location to study in. One of the fastest growing and most diverse cities in the US and extremely liberal (consistently Blue voting) in past several elections for those afraid of Texas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Makes sense - southern and texas schools are growing, it's where more of the population is moving and is now seen by traditional upper class as a viable option.

Rice is going to be one of the southern elites in a decade.

Rice already is a southern elite and national elite. And Houston is a vibrant location to study in. One of the fastest growing and most diverse cities in the US and extremely liberal (consistently Blue voting) in past several elections for those afraid of Texas.

this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Makes sense - southern and texas schools are growing, it's where more of the population is moving and is now seen by traditional upper class as a viable option.

Rice is going to be one of the southern elites in a decade.

Rice already is a southern elite and national elite. And Houston is a vibrant location to study in. One of the fastest growing and most diverse cities in the US and extremely liberal (consistently Blue voting) in past several elections for those afraid of Texas.

this.

Almost 40% of students at Rice live off-campus. That's quite high for a private college of this size. Doesn't that signal a lack of dorms to house the existing 4k students?

[Anonymous]

Berkeley accepts more kids than it can house and that's why Berkeley students are living in vans on the side of the street.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Makes sense - southern and texas schools are growing, it's where more of the population is moving and is now seen by traditional upper class as a viable option.

Rice is going to be one of the southern elites in a decade.

Rice already is a southern elite and national elite. And Houston is a vibrant location to study in. One of the fastest growing and most diverse cities in the US and extremely liberal (consistently Blue voting) in past several elections for those afraid of Texas.

this.

Almost 40% of students at Rice live off-campus. That's quite high for a private college of this size. Doesn't that signal a lack of dorms to house the existing 4k students?

Could also just be that they don't *want* to live on campus?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Berkeley accepts more kids than it can house and that's why Berkeley students are living in vans on the side of the street.

This.

There are schools building to accommodate new students, but even that has drawbacks. UVA added 2000 students over the last decade and they're always building something. Living amidst constant construction can be difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Makes sense - southern and texas schools are growing, it's where more of the population is moving and is now seen by traditional upper class as a viable option.

Rice is going to be one of the southern elites in a decade.

Rice already is a southern elite and national elite. And Houston is a vibrant location to study in. One of the fastest growing and most diverse cities in the US and extremely liberal (consistently Blue voting) in past several elections for those afraid of Texas.

this.

Almost 40% of students at Rice live off-campus. That's quite high for a private college of this size. Doesn't that signal a lack of dorms to house the existing 4k students?

Could also just be that they don't *want* to live on campus?

They don't even house all the freshmen. It's a source of anxiety for a lot of kids there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, do you want Rice to become Northeastern? Expanding and having satellite campuses everywhere? Is that what you want? Scarcity is the key.

Scarcity is key if college is all about signaling. If college is actually about education, scarcity would be irrelevant. You would admit everyone who can meet the course requirements and afford it, and expand the facilities to match.

But in some cases, small size is an inherent part of the education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Makes sense - southern and texas schools are growing, it's where more of the population is moving and is now seen by traditional upper class as a viable option.

Rice is going to be one of the southern elites in a decade.

Rice already is a southern elite and national elite. And Houston is a vibrant location to study in. One of the fastest growing and most diverse cities in the US and extremely liberal (consistently Blue voting) in past several elections for those afraid of Texas.

this.

Almost 40% of students at Rice live off-campus. That's quite high for a private college of this size. Doesn't that signal a lack of dorms to house the existing 4k students?

Could also just be that they don't *want* to live on campus?

They don't even house all the freshmen. It's a source of anxiety for a lot of kids there.

I'm so confused. Are you saying Rice doesn't house all the freshman on campus? Because that is just false. All the Freshman are assigned to a residential college.