The undergraduate program at Rice School of Architecture has risen to number two in the nation according to DesignIntelligence rankings.
The graduate program climbed to number seven, up nine spots from its number 16 ranking last year.
The Rice undergraduate program, a mainstay in the top 10 this decade, was ranked sixth last year. It surpassed California Polytechnic State Institute, San Luis Obispo; Syracuse University; Virginia Tech and the University of Southern California in the latest rankings. Cornell University retained its number one spot for the fifth year in a row.
Dean Sarah Whiting, the William Ward Watkin Professor of Architecture, was listed first among the 25 Most Admired Educators in Architecture, Interiors and Landscape Architecture.
“Given that we are a fraction of the size of all of the other top 10 schools, it’s particularly affirming to see our strengths recognized nationally like this,” says Whiting. “I’m very proud of the incredible education that our faculty provide here at the school.”
The annual DesignIntelligence rankings are based on survey responses from hundreds of leaders at architecture firms who have had direct experience hiring and judging the performance of recent architecture graduates. Participants were asked which accredited programs have best prepared their students for real-world practice.