Rice University is ranked No. 1 in Texas and No. 16 nationally in U.S. News & World Report's latest college rankings, according to the 2027 Best Colleges list covered widely by Texas media.
The ranking drew coverage from the Houston Chronicle, Axios Houston, Chron.com, the Houston Business Journal, the El Paso Times, The Dallas Express and Yahoo! News, among others. Six Texas universities made the publication's top 100, while TCU climbed and the University of Texas and Texas A&M slid in the new list.
Rice experts were also quoted across national and international outlets on energy and policy issues. David Satterfield, director of Rice's Baker Institute for Public Policy, was quoted in Time on President Donald Trump's United Nations address, described as offering a doctrine of peace through force.
Mark Finley, a fellow at the Baker Institute, was quoted by Marketplace on the gap between the "paper" price of Brent crude and what refiners actually pay. Kenneth Medlock III, also a Baker Institute fellow, was quoted by MSN, in an article that originally appeared in Reuters, saying that a ban on U.S. diesel exports would hurt rather than help fuel markets. CNBC TV18 reported that Trump backs a diesel export ban while the oil industry warns it could cut refinery output and supply.
Francisco Monaldi, a Baker Institute fellow, was quoted by Yahoo! Finance, in an article that originally appeared in Bloomberg, on how Trump's Venezuela oil deal hinges on decrepit and distant fields. Jim Krane, another Baker Institute fellow, told Arabian Gulf Business Insight that Gulf oil remains competitive despite East-West pipeline costs. Skip York, also a Baker Institute fellow, was quoted by PolitiFact in a fact-check saying Trump misled on the Iran war and AI in his UN speech.
In Houston and Texas news, Rice political science professor Mark Jones was quoted by Fox7Austin.com on a criminal complaint filed against Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick over AI attack ads. Rice linguistics professor Robert Englebretson was quoted by Texas Standard on the country's biggest braille transcription center, located inside a Texas prison. David Brockman, a scholar at the Baker Institute, was interviewed by Houston Public Media about the Bible being part of Texas' new reading list for public schools.
In research coverage, Phys.org featured collaborative Rice work on a theoretical strategy for eliminating an unintended directional bias when magnetic particles are assembled using rotating magnetic fields, quoting chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Sibani Lisa Biswal and research scientist Aldo Spatafora-Salazar. Phys.org also featured Rice research showing an organic semiconductor can transform from a liquid crystal into a solid crystal through a rapid, highly coordinated process resembling a martensitic transformation, quoting chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Matteo Pasquali and chemistry professor Kushal Bagchi.
In sports, the Rice men's golf team hosted the Bayou City Collegiate Classic Sept. 21-22 and won the team title for the second straight season. The volleyball team lost to Texas A&M 3-0 on Sept. 22, and head football coach Scott Abell was interviewed ahead of the Owls' game against Fresno State scheduled for Sept. 26.