22. Rice University
Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business
6100 Main Street
Houston, Texas 77005
Admissions: 713-348-3056
Email: emba@rice.edu
Website: http://www.rice.edu/executive
Apply Online: https://app.applyyourself.com/AYApplicantLogin/ApplicantConnectLogin.asp?id=rice
The Rice MBA for Executives is geared toward business leaders who have 10 years of management experience. The curriculum is designed with a focus on strategic management and leadership. In addition to required courses offered primarily in the first year, the program offers at least eight electives in the second year allowing students to customize their course of study specifically to their interests.
Unlike many executive programs that draw a very diverse range of students, the Rice program attracts a heavy percentage of managers from the energy business. Nearly 60% of the latest entering class, for example, hails from either the petroleum or energy businesses, not all that surprising given the school’s location. Some 44% of those students show up at Rice with advanced degrees and are earning on average base salaries of $132,363.
During the first year of the program, students are assigned to a work team, which changes mid-year. The second year focus is on program customization with an emphasis on electives and leadership development through coursework and individual sessions with executive coaches. In the second year, students participate in a community engagement consultative exercise and spend their last term in capstone courses designed to employ a multi-disciplinary approach to business topics.
Students are also encouraged to choose an international trip option which is scheduled in the spring of year two. Recent trips include China, Dubai, and Mexico. During the summer between years one and two, students may travel to the Washington Campus, a forum focusing on links between business and government.
Application Deadline: June 4 is the final deadline
Latest Up-to-Date Executive MBA Rankings:
2012 Poets&Quants: 22
2011 BusinessWeek: Second Tier
2011 U.S. News & World Report: NR
2010 The Wall Street Journal: 19
Rankings Analysis: Rice University’s Executive MBA lost some ground in the PoetsandQuants’ 2012 ranking of the world’s best programs. The school fell three places to a rank of 22 from 19th in 2011. Mostly, the backward movement had to do with the rise of several of other business school rivals rather any major rankings setback. In fact, The Financial Times improved the school’s rank by one place to 40th in 2011 from 41st a year earlier. BusinessWeek, which ranks EMBA programs on the basis of graduate satisfaction surveys and a reputation poll of EMBA directors, continued to place the school among its “second-tier” programs.
Application Fee: $125
2012 Tuition & Fees: $99,000, up from $96,000 in 2011
Average Months of Work Experience: 168
GMAT Required: Yes, but applicants with advanced degrees or significant work/leadership experience are exempt from the GMAT
Acceptance Rate: 95%
Enrollment: 150
International: 30%
Female: 23%
African-American: 12%
Asian: 40%
Hispanic/Latino: 10%
Mean Age: 37
Classes Meet: Alternate weekends
Length of Program: 22 months
Students From These Sectors:
- Consulting: 4 %
- Consumer Products: 1%
- Financial Services: 3%
- Government: 2%
- Manufacturing: 5%
- Non-Profit: 2%
- Petroleum/Energy: 57%
- Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology/Health Care: 10%
- Real Estate: 2%
- Technology: 5%
- Other: 7%
