Rice University adds first undergraduate business major

Rice University will begin offering an undergraduate major in business starting fall 2021. 

Currently, Rice undergraduate students only have options for a minor in business or entrepreneurship. The new undergraduate degree joins the university’s master’s degree program in business administration, a one-year Master of Accounting degree and a Ph.D. in business for those students seeking academic careers. 

“There’s a demand for deeper business education from our current and prospective students, and Rice Business can deliver to undergraduates the high-quality degree programs we have always delivered to MBAs, Master of Accountancy and Ph.D. students,” said Peter Rodriguez, dean of the Rice's Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business.

The business major will offer leadership and business fundamentals, the university said, including accounting, finance, marketing, organizational behavior, strategy and communications. Students are required to concentrate in finance or management. 

“We strive to be a forward-thinking business school for the next generation of global leaders,” Rodriguez said in a school announcement. “I am thrilled to say we will now be educating tomorrow’s leaders a little bit sooner.”

Incoming undergraduates and current freshmen are eligible for the program, and there’s no limit on number of students. Classes will be taught by previous MBA faculty. 

Rice’s Jones School has received several accolades, including for its online MBA program, MBA@Rice, which ranked No. 9 nationwide by U.S. News & World Report in 2021. The school also tied for No. 25 on the Best Business Schools list and tied for No. 13 on the Best Part-time MBA Programs list, per U.S. News.

Last year, the Jones School ranked No. 1 for its graduate entrepreneurship program by The Princeton Review, the second year in a row the school ranked No. 1. 

Rice has the second-largest MBA program in Houston, with 908 locally enrolled students as of May 2020. The University of Houston - Downtown has the largest, with 981 students.