International Student Admission

Our undergraduate population is diverse, with more than 30 countries represented and supported by a city comprised of more than 100 different nationalities, speaking 90-plus languages. International students find Rice and Houston welcoming communities that provide a home away from home.

International freshman applicants must submit the following:

1. The Common Application
2. The Rice Supplement to the Common Application
   
   • Online - recommended
   • Paper - pdf format
     
3. The required financial documents, based on whether you are applying for need-based financial aid or not (see below).
4. Rice Signature Page (this form must be printed and mailed to the Rice Admission Office)
5. a $65 nonrefundable application fee
6. official copies of all secondary school transcripts and/or nationally sponsored or administered examinations
7. Secondary School Report
8. one Teacher Evaluation
9. SAT plus 2 SAT Subject Tests or ACT with the writing test
10. Midyear Report
11. TOEFL score *

*Applicants whose first language and language of instruction is not English are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The minimum acceptable score on the TOEFL is 600 on the paper-based test, 250 on the computer-based test, or 100 on the Internet-based test.

Candidates who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents are required to submit a financial statement showing their sources of financial support. International applicants who are not requesting financial aid must show official documentation (appropriate affidavits and/or scholarship awards) of resources sufficient to cover the costs of the first year of study before their files can be reviewed for admission. These students remain eligible for consideration for merit scholarship awards from Rice's Admission Committee.

Rice University will offer need-based financial aid to a limited number of international undergraduate applicants entering Fall 2010. Citizens of foreign countries who apply under Regular Decision and request need-based aid will be reviewed as a separate group. We project that the admission rate for this group will be lower than that of the overall applicant pool. There is no financial aid available for international transfer applicants or international students applying under Early Decision. U.S. citizens living abroad and permanent residents of the U.S. are eligible to receive need-based financial aid from Rice and will be considered in Rice's need-blind general admission process.

All international citizens applying for admission must submit the Rice International Student Financial Statement and supporting documents showing sources of financial support and their extent. This form documents the extent of financial support a student has, regardless of whether he or she is applying for need-based aid.

In addition, international citizens applying for need-based financial aid must submit the CSS Profile.

For International students interested in transfer admission, please follow the application instructions on the Transfer Admission web page.