<p>Rice is the dream school for my DS (currently a junior). His stats are great and he has good ECs but nothing star quality. I am fairly confident he could get into Rice but of course, nothing is guaranteed. </p>
<p>We are a typical American (mid to upper-mid) family whose EFC would be way too high for us if we are looking at $40K/year for 4 years. The excellent state schools and some privates would practically fully fund my son's undergrad experience. </p>
<p>Before we fly to Houston and see all that we might not be able to afford - what is the typical student debt after 4 years? I keep hearing Rice gives great merit aid, but how much of a chunk are we really talking about with respect to the full picture? Would it cost 20K/year or more after merit funds are applied? I've read that the engineering school merit scholarships can go to full tuition, but how realistic is that? How many kids actually get that kind of funding and what would put them in the running for that type of scholarship?</p>
<p>I have two at Rice, and have been amazed at how affordable it has been.. (4 years down, 3 more to go.) My Dd will graduate with no debt, my son with approx $8000. Rice caps students loans at $14500 total for the 4 years, but any outside scholarships reduce that amount. My son had outside scholarships that reduced his student loans to 0 the first year, and a continuing scholarship that will reduce the remainder of the loans, hence the $8000. The Rice workstudy amount offered is $1800 a year - totally reasonable (unlike schools that offer $3000 or so!) and since the jobs on campus are quite well-paid, only requires about 8-10 hours of work a week. Dd had a preferential package and Rice merit scholarship, so had no loans or workstudy. She has been able to work a Rice non-workstudy job and make a healthy amount of money, plus extra pickup money tutoring. We have a healthy income (middle to upper-middle), and have been able to afford our EFC out of pocket. I heartily suggest your son apply and see what the financial aid package looks like if he gets accepted. There are some cost savings associated with sending a kid off to college (less food, water, electricity, no more EC expenses), and the kids can pay all his/her own personal expenses, books, through work/study or jobs, plus contributing $2000 or so from summer earnings. (And if your kid is in engineering or sciences, summer internships can be very lucrative.)
We have been very happy with Rice's financial aid. HTHs :)</p>
<p>My son is a freshman at Rice and while we don't qualify for merit aid, he received 2 merit scholarships from Rice -- one a 1/2 tuition scholarship for all 4 years and a research scholarship which grants him a guaranteed research mentorship for his first 2 years (an added bonus in and of itself) and $8,000 towards the cost of tuition for each of those 2 years. There is absolutely no guarantee that your son will receive any scholarships, but you don't know unless he applies. These were completely unexpected -- there is no separate scholarship application; every student who applies is considered for all scholarships.</p>
<p>Thank you for your very helpful information! I was so anxious about us falling in love with the school and wondering how we could possibly absorb an exorbitant price tag. My son would be glad to work as much as he can to contribute and the idea of a research scholarship is beyond amazing. We'll just go forward and see where the dust settles at this time next year!</p>
<p>It's comforting to hear these personal experiences of being able to afford Rice but how common are these scholarships? Does anyone know the average debt of a graduating Rice student? I would be more devasted getting accepted and not being able to afford it than not being accepted at all.</p>
<p>The number of merit scholarships is rising from about 15% (?) to something higher, but I don't have numbers. As mentioned above, Rice will cap student debt at $14,500 for those students who have loans. Many do not, since they have replaced their loans with outside scholarships, or have families with incomes below $60,000. I am hoping that Rice will eventually get rid of loans for all students, since they could afford to do so, and it would make Rice more attractive to prospective students, (not to mention, make it easier for graduates to take a low-paying nonprofit internship if they chose to do so!)
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I would be more devasted getting accepted and not being able to afford it than not being accepted at all.
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They meet 100% of institutionally determined financial need. Have your parents run the calculators on the Rice website to see what your family would be expected to contribute. :)</p>
<p>Alot of kids get scholarships, especially out of staters with cool things on their resumes. I got a 14.5k scholarship that was completely unexpected. Alot of my friends got scholarship also.</p>
<p>My D seems to have found a match with Rice and she has likely letters to several Ivies. Her goal is to teach at the university level and Rice seems to offer the academics as well as the social atmosphere that appeals to her. The student to faculty ratio is in her favor since she tends to do better in classes when she has a stronger relationship with her instructor, i.e., she wants to succeed in the class in the instructor's eyes. She doesn't give a hoot about competition among her classmates, unless a team of males directly challenges her team of females...then watch out!</p>
<p>So, back on topic, she will gladly forgo an acceptance to HYPSM with a substantial merit aid package from Rice. She is looking forward to Owl days.</p>