Rice University in Houston has announced plans to increase its student body to 9,000 and to expand campus facilities.
The Houston Chronicle reports that the university's board of trustees approved a plan that will scale up the number of students annually over five years, and by fall 2025 increase the full-time teaching faculty by nearly 50.
The number of undergraduate students will rise by 20%, to 4,800 by fall 2025. And the number of graduate students is also expected to grow, which will bring total enrollment to about 9,000 students.
"Welcoming more students to the Rice campus today will have an impact on the university for generations to come," says Robert Ladd, chair of the Rice Board of Trustees.
The physical expansion of the college will include a 12th residential college, a new engineering facility, a building for the visual and dramatic arts, and a new student center that will largely replace the Rice Memorial Center.
The three-story, 80,000-square-foot student center will be designed by the Adjaye Associates. It will include a multicultural center and a variety of gathering and event spaces. The university plans to break ground on the center in the first quarter of next year.
Rice's growth plans follow two decades of expansion at the college and a surge in applications. Applications for admissions increased by about 75% over the last four years.
Applications for the Fall 2021 semester totaled 29,519.
