Dear Rice alumni and friends:

I write today with important news regarding a core commitment of our university. Many Rice alumni and friends are familiar with the words “no upper limit.” This phrase, taken from founding president Edgar Odell Lovett’s speech at our opening, has guided our educational endeavor for more than a century. In the very next sentence following this proclamation, Lovett stated that Rice will be open to young men and women “without tuition.” The juxtaposition of these two ideas — no upper limit and no tuition — illuminates one of our deepest values: talent deserves opportunity. Although Rice began charging tuition in 1965, we have through generous financial aid always remained true to our commitment that a Rice education be affordable for every admitted student. Yet, we know that even with high financial aid, this has become increasingly challenging for a wide swath of American families. We heard from many alumni during our recent strategic planning process regarding their concern about middle class affordability, and our goal to address this issue was strongly reflected in our final strategic plan, the V2C2.

This morning, Rice formally announced a new financial aid initiative, “The Rice Investment,” that reinforces the university’s commitment to this historic ideal. Beginning in fall 2019, The Rice Investment will provide financial aid that covers Rice tuition for low- and middle-income students and their families.
Here are the basic elements of this plan:
Rice will offer degree-seeking undergraduate students from families who earn less than $65,000 (with typical assets) grants that fully cover tuition, fees, room and board.
Students whose families earn between $65,000 and $130,000 (with typical assets) will receive at least a full tuition scholarship.
Students whose families earn between $130,000 and $200,000 (with typical assets) will receive at least a half tuition scholarship.

In sum, Rice families earning less than $130,000 will not be asked to shoulder the burden of tuition, and families earning over that amount but less than $200,000 will not have to fund more than half of tuition charges. In some cases, students will receive grants greater than these amounts.

The Rice Investment will also reduce the burden of student debt. Beginning in the next academic year, degree-seeking undergraduate students from families with incomes up to $200,000 who qualify for The Rice Investment will no longer be required to take out loans as part of their need-based financial aid packages. Instead, loans will be replaced by scholarships and grants. Students will still be expected to contribute toward the cost of attendance through moderate earnings from summer and academic year jobs.

The plan, which takes effect with the 2019-20 academic year, will impact domestic degree-seeking undergraduates — including continuing students — who apply for and are eligible for aid based on need. Some families may qualify for even more aid depending on their circumstances. Families with atypically large assets or certain unusual circumstances may not qualify for this need-based aid.

We choose to make this investment at a remarkable time for our university. We had a record number of applications (nearly 21,000 including over 15,000 from outside Texas) for this year’s entering class. Greater selectivity and a significant increase in yield produced a truly extraordinary class. Our entering group of graduate students included more winners of distinguished awards and fellowships than ever before. A completely renovated Space Science Building, home to the next generation of nanoscience research at Rice, is now open. The new Rice University Music and Performing Arts Center is already rising on our campus, and just last week we broke ground for our new Patricia and Jonathan Kraft Hall for Social Sciences. We have invested in science and engineering facilities and equipment at an unprecedented pace, including a complete renovation of our teaching laboratories. We are building faculty in areas like neuroengineering, physical and synthetic biology, computer science, mathematics, philosophy, economics and biosciences. Earlier this year, we announced that Rice would partner with others to use its midtown property, part of the endowment’s holdings, formerly occupied by Sears to create an exciting innovation district. New programs such as the Texas Policy Lab, the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Data to Knowledge (D2K) Laboratory, and the Doerr Institute for New Leaders are pushing the frontiers of a Rice education. Our first online degree program, MBA@Rice, was launched successfully this past summer, and we expect more to follow. And our School of Architecture rose to rankings of No. 2 for undergraduate and No. 7 for graduate education by Design Intelligence.

The Rice Investment has been enthusiastically endorsed and supported by the Rice Board of Trustees. We believe this effort to enhance our financial aid takes a bold step into the future by building on our founding values. The combination of extraordinary academics and affordability positions Rice as a leader among the nation’s most competitive universities in attracting and supporting a talented and diverse student body. It seeks to address the very real challenges faced by families at a time when taking on too much debt is a growing problem both during and after college.

Rice alumni and friends have been among the most impassioned supporters of making a Rice education more affordable for lower and middle income students and families. This is an ambitious undertaking, and the support of our community will be essential to maintain our momentum. Already, our generous supporters have contributed nearly a third of the $150 million in endowed funding required to sustain this commitment. As we advance toward this goal, our focus on affordability comes at a time when we must demonstrate the value of higher education as never before and ensure that talented students, regardless of their economic circumstances, have every opportunity to positively impact the world.

I encourage you to learn more about The Rice Investment and to watch a brief informational video at rice.edu/thericeinvestment. As always, thank you for everything that you already do for Rice and our students.

Warm regards,

David W. Leebron
Rice University President

Maybe not OT -- won't this go a long way toward solving the baseball scholarship issues everyone's been complaining about?

(09-18-2018 06:21 AM)Owlcatraz Wrote:  Maybe not OT -- won't this go a long way toward solving the baseball scholarship issues everyone's been complaining about?

True. It definitely will help our sports that aren’t full scholarship.

Thoughts...
-I think this puts us ahead of the Ivies and Stanford.
-This should help everything except football and basketball a ton
-If we’re going to announce bold moves that aren’t fully funded I wish we’d announce an athletic endowment or plan to get to the P5

It didn’t mention it but McMurtry passed away last week. I wonder if the timing is more than coincidence.

As a parent of a high school junior and sophomore (who are not likely to get into or apply to Rice, alas), I hope this signals a trend with universities across the nation.

Question for those in the know - what does this mean?

Students whose families earn between $130,000 and $200,000 (with typical assets) will receive at least a half tuition scholarship.

Are they saying your equity in a house and say cars will be included to get to that figure?

(09-18-2018 07:12 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  As a parent of a high school junior and sophomore (who are not likely to get into or apply to Rice, alas), I hope this signals a trend with universities across the nation.

Question for those in the know - what does this mean?

Students whose families earn between $130,000 and $200,000 (with typical assets) will receive at least a half tuition scholarship.

Are they saying your equity in a house and say cars will be included to get to that figure?

It will be interesting to see how they would include a home’s value into annual earnings.

I’m wondering if that references what someone’s assets are and if they disqualify you, regardless of annual earnings. So for example, typical assets include a single home, maybe two or three cars, and a 401(k), and if that is it, you would qualify. But if you own five homes and a yatch, but your yearly income was only $150k in 2019, you don’t qualify because you don’t have “typical assets.”

(09-18-2018 07:25 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:12 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  As a parent of a high school junior and sophomore (who are not likely to get into or apply to Rice, alas), I hope this signals a trend with universities across the nation.

Question for those in the know - what does this mean?

Students whose families earn between $130,000 and $200,000 (with typical assets) will receive at least a half tuition scholarship.

Are they saying your equity in a house and say cars will be included to get to that figure?

It will be interesting to see how they would include a home’s value into annual earnings.

I’m wondering if that references what someone’s assets are and if they disqualify you, regardless of annual earnings. So for example, typical assets include a single home, maybe two or three cars, and a 401(k), and if that is it, you would qualify. But if you own five homes and a yatch, but your yearly income was only $150k in 2019, you don’t qualify because you don’t have “typical assets.”

Good.

It would be outrageous if someone from a family with six figures of income and millions of dollars in property was getting a need-based scholarship.

(09-18-2018 07:25 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:12 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  As a parent of a high school junior and sophomore (who are not likely to get into or apply to Rice, alas), I hope this signals a trend with universities across the nation.

Question for those in the know - what does this mean?

Students whose families earn between $130,000 and $200,000 (with typical assets) will receive at least a half tuition scholarship.

Are they saying your equity in a house and say cars will be included to get to that figure?

It will be interesting to see how they would include a home’s value into annual earnings.

I’m wondering if that references what someone’s assets are and if they disqualify you, regardless of annual earnings. So for example, typical assets include a single home, maybe two or three cars, and a 401(k), and if that is it, you would qualify. But if you own five homes and a yatch, but your yearly income was only $150k in 2019, you don’t qualify because you don’t have “typical assets.”

I'm pretty sure they'll still be using the standard financial aid forms to determine what assets count toward expected payments for schooling. Retirement accounts never count against you, though yearly contributions to them do matter. Home equity available matters. Fun stuff like that. The calculations will be just that much more opaque on how you qualify for a certain level.

This is almost definitely a good thing, though there is a case to stop the obscene top-line escalations and just make it more affordable across the board instead.

(09-18-2018 07:38 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:25 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:12 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  As a parent of a high school junior and sophomore (who are not likely to get into or apply to Rice, alas), I hope this signals a trend with universities across the nation.

Question for those in the know - what does this mean?

Students whose families earn between $130,000 and $200,000 (with typical assets) will receive at least a half tuition scholarship.

Are they saying your equity in a house and say cars will be included to get to that figure?

It will be interesting to see how they would include a home’s value into annual earnings.

I’m wondering if that references what someone’s assets are and if they disqualify you, regardless of annual earnings. So for example, typical assets include a single home, maybe two or three cars, and a 401(k), and if that is it, you would qualify. But if you own five homes and a yatch, but your yearly income was only $150k in 2019, you don’t qualify because you don’t have “typical assets.”

Good.

It would be outrageous if someone from a family with six figures of income and millions of dollars in property was getting a need-based scholarship.

Depends on the property. I know of people with significant real estate assets who have little income. Family farms come to mind. So if Joe's dad is a dairy farmer who works 7/24/365 to earn $100K on his 250 acres of land worth $20K/acre, he should be forced to sell some land or cattle to pay? Now that is outrageous.

I don't think this puts Rice ahead of its peer group, but it definitely gets it back to even terms. Stanford, Columbia, and other schools have done this for some time. When we've talked to financial advisers that specialize in college tuition, we've been consistently told "forget about Rice, you can't afford it ... apply to Harvard". Rice has been committed to keeping student debt down, but they've been unyielding with parent contributions.

This may be slightly better for those in the $130-$200k income range, but I think Rice is following rather than leading the pack. But, it's good to be back in the race.

(09-18-2018 08:00 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:38 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:25 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:12 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  As a parent of a high school junior and sophomore (who are not likely to get into or apply to Rice, alas), I hope this signals a trend with universities across the nation.

Question for those in the know - what does this mean?

Students whose families earn between $130,000 and $200,000 (with typical assets) will receive at least a half tuition scholarship.

Are they saying your equity in a house and say cars will be included to get to that figure?

It will be interesting to see how they would include a home’s value into annual earnings.

I’m wondering if that references what someone’s assets are and if they disqualify you, regardless of annual earnings. So for example, typical assets include a single home, maybe two or three cars, and a 401(k), and if that is it, you would qualify. But if you own five homes and a yatch, but your yearly income was only $150k in 2019, you don’t qualify because you don’t have “typical assets.”

Good.

It would be outrageous if someone from a family with six figures of income and millions of dollars in property was getting a need-based scholarship.

Depends on the property. I know of people with significant real estate assets who have little income. Family farms come to mind. So if Joe's dad is a dairy farmer who works 7/24/365 to earn $100K on his 250 acres of land worth $20K/acre, he should be forced to sell some land or cattle to pay? Now that is outrageous.

My guess is that a situation like that would be handled in the same manner as anyone else who owns their own business. Not sure how that is handled, though.

(09-18-2018 08:14 AM)I45owl Wrote:  I don't think this puts Rice ahead of its peer group, but it definitely gets it back to even terms. Stanford, Columbia, and other schools have done this for some time. When we've talked to financial advisers that specialize in college tuition, we've been consistently told "forget about Rice, you can't afford it ... apply to Harvard". Rice has been committed to keeping student debt down, but they've been unyielding with parent contributions.

This may be slightly better for those in the $130-$200k income range, but I think Rice is following rather than leading the pack. But, it's good to be back in the race.

Actually, if I'm reading this correctly, this puts us ahead of Stanford and Harvard.

(09-18-2018 08:14 AM)I45owl Wrote:  I don't think this puts Rice ahead of its peer group, but it definitely gets it back to even terms. Stanford, Columbia, and other schools have done this for some time. When we've talked to financial advisers that specialize in college tuition, we've been consistently told "forget about Rice, you can't afford it ... apply to Harvard". Rice has been committed to keeping student debt down, but they've been unyielding with parent contributions.

This may be slightly better for those in the $130-$200k income range, but I think Rice is following rather than leading the pack. But, it's good to be back in the race.

I wasn't aware of this (many Ivy schools tuition being free for the majority and Rice being considered more expensive). Rice has always placed near the top in "best value." I wonder what % of the current Rice population come from households who make $130k or less, must be a substantial number.

This sounds like big news, and should help sports - by getting more athletes to prefer Rice over schools that previously offered more aid than Rice (smaller sports, baseball example, football walk ons, etc), and maybe by increasing the talent pool of those who will consider Rice now. It may help our academic ranking.

(09-18-2018 07:12 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  As a parent of a high school junior and sophomore (who are not likely to get into or apply to Rice, alas), I hope this signals a trend with universities across the nation.
Question for those in the know - what does this mean?
Students whose families earn between $130,000 and $200,000 (with typical assets) will receive at least a half tuition scholarship.
Are they saying your equity in a house and say cars will be included to get to that figure?

I think it's geared more towards certain cases where ones income may be in the neighborhood of zero whilst assets are in the neighborhood of 8-10 figures or above.

(09-18-2018 08:00 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:38 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:25 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:12 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  As a parent of a high school junior and sophomore (who are not likely to get into or apply to Rice, alas), I hope this signals a trend with universities across the nation.

Question for those in the know - what does this mean?

Students whose families earn between $130,000 and $200,000 (with typical assets) will receive at least a half tuition scholarship.

Are they saying your equity in a house and say cars will be included to get to that figure?

It will be interesting to see how they would include a home’s value into annual earnings.

I’m wondering if that references what someone’s assets are and if they disqualify you, regardless of annual earnings. So for example, typical assets include a single home, maybe two or three cars, and a 401(k), and if that is it, you would qualify. But if you own five homes and a yatch, but your yearly income was only $150k in 2019, you don’t qualify because you don’t have “typical assets.”

Good.

It would be outrageous if someone from a family with six figures of income and millions of dollars in property was getting a need-based scholarship.

Depends on the property. I know of people with significant real estate assets who have little income. Family farms come to mind. So if Joe's dad is a dairy farmer who works 7/24/365 to earn $100K on his 250 acres of land worth $20K/acre, he should be forced to sell some land or cattle to pay? Now that is outrageous.

It’s probably determined the same way financial aid has been for years, the FAFSA. This should definitely benefit a significant number of Rice students. I’m surprised $150 million covers it all (when we get there eventually).

(09-18-2018 08:16 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 08:00 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:38 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:25 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:12 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  As a parent of a high school junior and sophomore (who are not likely to get into or apply to Rice, alas), I hope this signals a trend with universities across the nation.

Question for those in the know - what does this mean?

Students whose families earn between $130,000 and $200,000 (with typical assets) will receive at least a half tuition scholarship.

Are they saying your equity in a house and say cars will be included to get to that figure?

It will be interesting to see how they would include a home’s value into annual earnings.

I’m wondering if that references what someone’s assets are and if they disqualify you, regardless of annual earnings. So for example, typical assets include a single home, maybe two or three cars, and a 401(k), and if that is it, you would qualify. But if you own five homes and a yatch, but your yearly income was only $150k in 2019, you don’t qualify because you don’t have “typical assets.”

Good.

It would be outrageous if someone from a family with six figures of income and millions of dollars in property was getting a need-based scholarship.

Depends on the property. I know of people with significant real estate assets who have little income. Family farms come to mind. So if Joe's dad is a dairy farmer who works 7/24/365 to earn $100K on his 250 acres of land worth $20K/acre, he should be forced to sell some land or cattle to pay? Now that is outrageous.

My guess is that a situation like that would be handled in the same manner as anyone else who owns their own business. Not sure how that is handled, though.

It used to be handled poorly. I don't know how it is handled now.

But I hope that judgement is used, instead of reliance on straight numbers. The fact that "typical assets" is used, instead of a hard and fast number, gives me hope.

But it is a good move on the part of Rice.

edit: another situation where judgement is needed is the evaluation of the income stream. some people have wildly fluctuating income streams, and if the evaluation happens to hit a particularly good(or bad) year, it can have a significant impact of the result.

But still a good move. I trust the U. will use judgement.

(09-18-2018 08:00 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:38 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:25 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:12 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  As a parent of a high school junior and sophomore (who are not likely to get into or apply to Rice, alas), I hope this signals a trend with universities across the nation.

Question for those in the know - what does this mean?

Students whose families earn between $130,000 and $200,000 (with typical assets) will receive at least a half tuition scholarship.

Are they saying your equity in a house and say cars will be included to get to that figure?

It will be interesting to see how they would include a home’s value into annual earnings.

I’m wondering if that references what someone’s assets are and if they disqualify you, regardless of annual earnings. So for example, typical assets include a single home, maybe two or three cars, and a 401(k), and if that is it, you would qualify. But if you own five homes and a yatch, but your yearly income was only $150k in 2019, you don’t qualify because you don’t have “typical assets.”

Good.

It would be outrageous if someone from a family with six figures of income and millions of dollars in property was getting a need-based scholarship.

Depends on the property. I know of people with significant real estate assets who have little income. Family farms come to mind. So if Joe's dad is a dairy farmer who works 7/24/365 to earn $100K on his 250 acres of land worth $20K/acre, he should be forced to sell some land or cattle to pay? Now that is outrageous.

Don't get me started on farmers... huge net worth, government subsidies, environmental and land-use exemptions, every kind of tax break, and they beat their breasts and complain to the rest of us about how poor they are.

(09-18-2018 08:28 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 08:00 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:38 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:25 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 07:12 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  As a parent of a high school junior and sophomore (who are not likely to get into or apply to Rice, alas), I hope this signals a trend with universities across the nation.

Question for those in the know - what does this mean?

Students whose families earn between $130,000 and $200,000 (with typical assets) will receive at least a half tuition scholarship.

Are they saying your equity in a house and say cars will be included to get to that figure?

It will be interesting to see how they would include a home’s value into annual earnings.

I’m wondering if that references what someone’s assets are and if they disqualify you, regardless of annual earnings. So for example, typical assets include a single home, maybe two or three cars, and a 401(k), and if that is it, you would qualify. But if you own five homes and a yatch, but your yearly income was only $150k in 2019, you don’t qualify because you don’t have “typical assets.”

Good.

It would be outrageous if someone from a family with six figures of income and millions of dollars in property was getting a need-based scholarship.

Depends on the property. I know of people with significant real estate assets who have little income. Family farms come to mind. So if Joe's dad is a dairy farmer who works 7/24/365 to earn $100K on his 250 acres of land worth $20K/acre, he should be forced to sell some land or cattle to pay? Now that is outrageous.

Don't get me started on farmers... huge net worth, government subsidies, environmental and land-use exemptions, every kind of tax break, and they beat their breasts and complain to the rest of us about how poor they are.

Most farmers I know are land rich and cash poor. Hard to take 1/4 acre into town and buy clothes with it.

I would consider the environmental and land-use stuff to be more restrictions than exemptions. You try dredging out a stock tank and being fined for disturbing the water flow to a river 100 miles a way.

But since it is such a cushy life, my place is for sale. I can guarantee a .00033% ROI.

(09-18-2018 07:12 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  As a parent of a high school junior and sophomore (who are not likely to get into or apply to Rice, alas), I hope this signals a trend with universities across the nation.

Question for those in the know - what does this mean?

Students whose families earn between $130,000 and $200,000 (with typical assets) will receive at least a half tuition scholarship.

Are they saying your equity in a house and say cars will be included to get to that figure?

Just guessing, but they probably would count being the beneficiary of a trust as atypical. In my job I see a lot of families where the patriarch has tons of money, and the kids have low or middle class income, but they have a huge trust supporting them and their children.

(09-18-2018 06:26 AM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(09-18-2018 06:21 AM)Owlcatraz Wrote:  Maybe not OT -- won't this go a long way toward solving the baseball scholarship issues everyone's been complaining about?

True. It definitely will help our sports that aren’t full scholarship.

Thoughts...
-I think this puts us ahead of the Ivies and Stanford.
-This should help everything except football and basketball a ton
-If we’re going to announce bold moves that aren’t fully funded I wish we’d announce an athletic endowment or plan to get to the P5

It didn’t mention it but McMurtry passed away last week. I wonder if the timing is more than coincidence.

But wouldn't football and basketball be helped by this as well? If we have a limited number of scholarships, but want an athlete to come to Rice, if they qualify under the Rice Initiative, they can walk-on, but still not have to worry about incurring the costs of attending. I can't help but see this as a huge selling to point to all sports across the board, including football and basketball.