Undergraduate Admission
Rice: Unconventional Wisdom
Academics at Rice

Majors, Minors and Flexible Distribution Requirements

Rice offers more than 50 undergraduate majors across six divisions of study, including Architecture, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences. Additionally, minors, interdisciplinary and preprofessional programs complement our comprehensive curriculum, with multiple opportunities for research and collaboration. You can learn more about each major and minor by clicking on the links below.

Majors list by School

 
School of Architecture 
Architecture   
Architectural Studies   
   
George R. Brown School of Engineering 
Bioengineering  Electrical Engineering Sciences 
Chemical Engineering  Environmental Engineering 
Civil Engineering  Materials Science 
Computational and Applied Mathematics  Mechanical Engineering 
Computer Science  Statistics 
   
School of Humanities 
Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations  Latin American Studies 
Art History  Linguistics 
Asian Studies  Medieval Studies 
Classical Studies  Philosophy 
English  Religious Studies 
French Studies  Spanish/Hispanic Studies 
German Studies  Sport Management 
History  Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality 
Kinesiology  Visual and Dramatic Arts 
   
In addition to the majors listed above, the School of Humanities also offers courses in the following areas (but not an academic major): Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Portuguese and Russian. 
   
The Shepherd School of Music 
Composition  Music Theory 
Music History  Performance 
   
Wiess School of Natural Sciences 
Astronomy  Chemistry 
Astrophysics  Earth Science (Geology/Geophysics) 
Biological Sciences  Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 
Biochemistry and Cell Biology  Mathematics 
Chemical Physics  Physics 
   
School of Social Sciences 
Anthropology  Policy Studies 
Cognitive Science  Political Science 
Economics  Psychology 
Managerial Studies  Sociology 
Mathematical Economic Analysis   
   
In addition to the majors listed above, the School of Social Sciences also offers courses in Accounting (but not as an academic major). 
 

Minors, Interdisciplinary and Preprofessional Programs

Minors 
African Studies  Financial Computation and Modeling 
Anthropology  Global Health Technologies 
Biochemistry and Cell Biology  Jewish Studies 
Business  Mathematics 
Computational and Applied Mathematics  Poverty, Justice and Human Capabilities 
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology  Sociology 
Energy and Water Sustainability  Statistics 
   
Interdisciplinary Programs 
Air Force Science  Naval Science 
Applied Physics Program   Neurosciences 
Leadership Rice  Writing and Commucation  
Military Science   
   
Preprofessional Programs and Advising 
Education (Secondary Teaching Certificate)  Prelaw (Advising)
Prebusiness (Advising) Premedicine (Health Professions Advising)

 


 

Flexible Distribution Requirements

With the goal of giving undergraduates a broad education beyond their major, Rice has established flexible distribution requirements as part of the requirements for graduation. By the time they graduate, students must take three courses each in the fields of humanities, social sciences, and applied sciences. Rice builds flexibility into the requirements so that students have the freedom to select the courses that interest them most.

Visit Rice's General Announcements website for more information on graduation requirements for your degree.