Big Pond, More Fish

Updated from original post that was published on 12/02/2020.

Why Rice Business is Growing

Q and A with Dean Peter Rodriguez

The student population at Rice Business has always been small and selective. It’s an educational approach that has launched thousands of top-tier, versatile businesspeople able to solve some of the biggest organizational challenges. This year, Rice Business has for the first time added a third cohort to its full-time MBA program. It’s a response to the demand for top business school graduates – especially within Houston, where waves of new residents, innovators and Fortune 1000 businesses create an ecosystem full of opportunities for MBAs.

The flourishing programs at Rice Business reflect a long-term trend: the growth of Houston as a metropolis and as a global business center. Houston needs top caliber MBAs. Rice Business is accommodating the demand.

Here, Rice Business Dean Peter Rodriguez explains why the Rice Business community is now a bigger pond with more fish.

Q: COVID-19, economic uncertainty and visa challenges have all made 2020 a unique year in higher education. Yet despite – and sometimes because – of these obstacles, MBA applications at top programs have actually leaped upward. In addition to its new fulltime MBA cohort, Rice Business has fielded more applications in the past cycle; expanded all its MBA campus programs, adding an overall 137 more MBA students; and increased its cohorts at MBA@Rice, the school’s popular online MBA. Why are MBAs at top schools in demand right now?

PR:  The MBA is the most successful post-graduate degree program in history, largely because it directly addresses the knowledge and skills that translate into leadership opportunities. Leading in organizations, whether established or being created, is challenging, multi-dimensional work. It requires far more than discipline in one specific skill delivered by one individual. It demands accountability for others and the skills to shape and influence their work as individuals and teams.

No undergraduate degree and few graduate degrees prepare one for that, or for understanding how to sustain and grow an organization in competitive markets. The MBA does this like no other degree, and in that sense, it’s the pathway degree for growth in one’s career across many fields.

Now the onset of a COVID-induced recession is prompting more and more potential applicants to invest in their education to expand their career options. The larger trend of growth, though, is in the same direction -- and extends beyond this unforeseen event.

Rice Business is uniquely suited to meet this demand, offering the best MBA program in Houston. Its entrepreneurship program recently ranked #1 nationally for excellence for the fourth year in a row. The faculty is top-notch, known for both classroom teaching and groundbreaking research, and the rigorous curriculum is STEM certified and ranked #5 in Finance. In addition to top academics, Rice Business also emphasizes leadership and communications training, with a careful mix of coursework, action learning projects, and the expectation that students take on leadership roles at major conferences such as Houston’s Women In Leadership Conference,  Diversity And Inclusion Conference and Rice Energy Finance Summit.

Finally, one of the program’s most distinctive strengths is its culture of entrepreneurship. At Rice Business we believe that an entrepreneurial mindset is critical whatever you do in business: whether launching a startup, acquiring a company or making changes in an existing organization.

Q: What does the growth of Rice Business student mean for professionals considering an MBA here?

PR: Having more students to study with at Rice Business enriches the classroom experience and brings a wider perspective to conversations about careers and how best to pursue one’s professional aspirations. Today’s growth will also result in a deeper and more diverse network of fellow Rice alumni – which in turn sustain the value of a Rice MBA for years into the future. We’ve managed to grow while still retaining the balance and personal touch that larger programs can’t match: a hallmark benefit of studying at Rice Business.

Q: What are the practical reasons for investing in a top-quality business school?

PR: You only get an MBA once. Some people mistakenly analogize choosing an MBA program to large consumer purchase decisions, but it’s quite different. You get a redo on most consumer decisions, even if it’s as large as a home purchase. You choose your university degree once and so you must choose the highest quality available to you.

Quality endures, and it’s even more evident in a top-quality education than in any other choice. It’s sometimes easier to see why quality is so essential if you ask someone what kindergarten they’d choose for their 5-year-old, or how carefully they’d consider the choice of an eye surgeon. It may seem different, but choosing a top-quality MBA program is similar in that it’s a highly-consequential choice that matters for the long run. 

That’s why at Rice, as our degree programs have become more and more favorably recognized, and our format options have grown, applications have increased.

Q: What role does the city of Houston play for Rice Business students before and after graduation?  

PR: Houston’s economic size, concentration of top firms, youth and diversity make it a hotbed of career opportunities for those students who choose to stay in Houston. It’s the fourth largest city in the country, site of the second largest number of Fortune 1000 companies, the most diverse U.S. city – and a national center of innovation.

Any successful city and region is a magnet for talent. Houston is no exception. Our industries and young, innovative firms attract the best and brightest from around the state, nation and world. Their differences and creativity fuel the innovations that keep our city thriving. In turn, they attract the investments in healthcare, energy, and renewables that keep Houston in the lead in these fields.

Coupled with the opportunities for study at a top business school and the density of Rice graduates throughout the city, the career prospects here are as good -- or better -- than in any city in the nation.

Bringing students from around the nation and world into our MBA programs are part of this virtuous cycle of attraction between talent, investment and the career opportunities that follow. What we have to offer is rare and special: a highly-ranked business school in a diverse, large, economically robust and welcoming city where you can afford to live well and be ready for the future too. That’s why some of our students end up choosing to stay in Houston.