BusinessPundit 2026 Rankings
#30 The Top 100 MBA Programs

Rice Jones Graduate School of Business

Rice University · Houston, Texas · Private

“The energy-capital MBA, rebuilt for the energy transition.”

Reviewed by David Krug · July 2026
Data anchored to the 2026 U.S. News table, Poets&Quants reporting, and school-published class profiles

Rice Jones Graduate School of Business
82.3
Very goodBP Score
$135,000Tuition, total
705Avg. GMAT
27%Acceptance rate
86%Placed at 3 months
$140,000Median base salary

Our review

Jones sits in the world’s energy capital and refuses to pick a side: the energy curriculum spans supermajors, LNG traders, and the carbon-capture and grid-scale startups Houston now incubates. Recruiters from both camps treat the school as their local bench, and the annual energy finance conference doubles as a hiring floor.

The rest of the program has quietly nationalized. A 27% acceptance rate is the most selective in Texas, MBA@Rice extended the brand online without an asterisk, and entrepreneurship programming through the Rice Alliance has seeded a real venture community. Houston’s cost of living keeps the ROI math friendly.

What impressed us

  • Energy in both directions. Majors and transition startups recruit the same halls.
  • Texas selectivity. A 27% admit rate, tightest in the state.

What gave us pause

  • Sector gravity. The energy identity dominates recruiting variety.
  • MBB thinness. Elite consulting hires in ones and twos.

The verdict

The obvious choice for energy in any direction — conventional, transition, or trading — and an increasingly strong general MBA for the Texas economy. National consulting scale is the trade.

82.3

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