2027 Summer Sessions Information for Rice Schools and Departments

General Information

Rice offers summer sessions, in residence and online, to advance curricular goals and to help students stay on target to graduate within six years. The Summer Sessions program is managed by the Office of the Registrar, and each school will determine its own course offerings.

The Summer 2027 Memo, which outlines various details, is available here. Please view the financial model here. Information on how to pay instructors for summer is available on the VPAA site.

Summer Sessions Academic Calendar

The schedule for the 2027 Summer Sessions can be found on the Summer 2027 Academic Calendar. The Summer Sessions are divided into seven main "blocks" with three additional parts of term to accommodate internships, research, and other types of courses.

The Academic Calendar contains further information on refund rules (including refund percentages), University holidays, grade submission deadlines, etc.

Key Dates

Several key dates for departments and Academic Deans' office exist for the creation of the schedule of courses. (Note: Minimum enrollment requirements are subject to change at the discretion of the Budget Office and Provost.)

  • Monday, November 2: Deadline for the Office of Division of Student Life and Undergraduate Education to submit list of courses most likely in demand for students to graduate by May 2028 Deadline for Athletics to submit a list of courses desired for student athletes to the Office of Division of Student Life and Undergraduate Education. Summer sessions website update is complete. CourseLeaf CLSS opens for departments to begin entering proposed summer 2027 course offerings.
  • Friday, November 13: List of online courses due to the Associate Provost for Digital Learning and Strategy.
  • Friday, November 20: Deadline for departments to submit (in CourseLeaf CLSS) the first slate of summer 2027 course offerings to the Deans’ offices. Deadline for departments to submit requests to OTR for exceptions to approved Summer Session/Block dates; this includes any requests for international travel and/or graduate courses that are not housed in Sessions I, Full Session, Internship, Block A1, Block B1, Block C1, Block D1, Block E1, Block B2, Block C2, Summer Paris 1, Summer Paris 2, or Summer Paris 3.
  • Monday, November 23: Submitted summer 2027 schedule of courses available in CourseLeaf CLSS for departments and Deans’ offices to review for all classes. Summer 2027 Schedule of Courses formally posted on courses.rice.edu. Summer 2027 registration officially opens in ESTHER. Admission and registration process for (summer 2027) visiting students officially opens (for visiting students, including visiting online and visiting high school students, to apply for Rice visiting student status). Registration is contingent on admission.
  • Thursday, December 3: Deadline for first slate of proposed summer 2027 course offerings to be reviewed by Deans’ offices and approved/rejected in CourseLeaf CLSS workflow.
  • Friday, February 12: Deadline for final submission of summer 2027 Schedule of Courses in CourseLeaf CLSS by departments.
  • Friday, April 9: Deadline for all students to register for Summer Paris 1, Summer Paris 2, and Summer Paris 3 courses.
  • Monday, April 26: Deadline for visiting students to apply for Summer Session 1 courses (with all appropriate and required paperwork).
  • Monday, May 3: Summer Session I (15 Week Session), Full Session (15 Week Session), and Internship (15 Week Session) Begin. Deadline for visiting students to apply for Block A1 courses (with all appropriate and required paperwork). OTR sends a list of courses for Block A1 with less than 5 enrollments; departments must submit justifications for exceptions by 5/5. Otherwise, the course is canceled as of 5/6. Deadline for visiting students to apply for Block B1 courses (with all appropriate and required paperwork). OTR sends a list of courses for Block B1 with less than 5 enrollments; departments must submit justifications for exceptions by 5/5. Otherwise, the course is canceled as of 5/6.
  • Monday, May 10: Summer Block A1 (3 Week Block) Begins. Summer Block B1 (7 Week Block) Begins. Deadline for visiting students to apply for Block C1 courses (with all appropriate and required paperwork). OTR sends a list of courses for Block C1 with less than 5 enrollments; departments must submit justifications for exceptions by 5/12. Otherwise, the course is canceled as of 5/13.
  • Monday, May 17: Summer Block C1 (6 Week Block) Begins. Summer Paris 1 (3 Week Block) Begins.
  • Monday, May 24: Deadline for visiting students to apply for Block D1 courses (with all appropriate and required paperwork). OTR sends list of courses for Block D1 with less than 5 enrollments; departments must submit justifications for exceptions by 5/26. Otherwise, the course is canceled as of 5/27.
  • Tuesday, June 1: Summer Block D1 (10 Week Block) Begins.
  • Monday, June 7: Deadline for visiting students to apply for Block E1 courses (with all appropriate and required paperwork). OTR sends a list of courses for Block E1 with less than 5 enrollments; departments must submit justifications for exceptions by 6/9. Otherwise, the course is canceled as of 6/10.
  • Wednesday, June 9: Summer Paris 2 (3 Week Block) Begins.
  • Monday, June 14: Summer Block E1 (7 Week Block) Begins.
  • Monday, June 21: Deadline for visiting students to apply for Block B2 courses (with all appropriate and required paperwork). OTR sends list of courses for Block B2 with less than 5 enrollments; departments must submit justifications for exceptions by 6/23. Otherwise, course is canceled as of 6/24.
  • Monday, June 28: Summer Block B2 (7 Week Block) Begins. Deadline for visiting students to apply for Block C2 courses (with all appropriate and required paperwork). OTR sends list of courses for Block C2 with less than 5 enrollments; departments must submit justifications for exceptions by 6/30. Otherwise, course is canceled as of 7/1.
  • Monday, July 5: Summer Paris 3 (3 Week Block) Begins.
  • Tuesday, July 6: Summer Block C2 (6 Week Block) Begins.

Roles and Responsibilities

Deans

Encourage departments to identify courses early and offer “high-demand” courses; in order to allow Rice students to easily take courses during summer when internships or other responsibilities take them away from campus and to increase enrollment by non-Rice courses, units should create a robust offering of online courses where pedagogically appropriate; approve proposed courses and submit through CourseLeaf CLSS workflow to OTR; approve any deviations from the standard instructor salary; approve any commitments for TAs; give departments a deadline for submitting course proposals and corresponding high school admissions criteria to the Dean for approval.

Provost’s Office (Dean of Undergraduates, Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, Senior Associate Provost)

Communicate with chairs and deans about course requirements that serve purposes that are important to the broader university, such as courses needed to help undergraduate students graduate within six years, to provide teaching opportunities for graduate students, or to enable faculty to experiment with online digital delivery formats. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the summer sessions program each year.

Dean of Undergraduates

Provide a list of courses that students need for graduation. Working with Academic Advising, identify students whose progress toward graduation within six years would be helped by summer courses and encourage them to enroll in the summer sessions (either online or in the classroom). Ensure that proposed summer courses (including study abroad) have sufficient support services to ensure the well-being of students.

Associate Provost for Academic Budgetary Affairs

Oversees the financial plan for summer sessions.

Glasscock School of Continuing Studies

Responsibility for the digital marketing strategy of the Visiting student program; contributing to the maintenance and update of the summer website; ensuring a frictionless pathway from prospective student to registered student; admit and process high school student and visiting undergraduate student application and registration forms, secure needed documents, etc.; maintaining the student success program for high school students; holding information sessions and welcome sessions for new high school students, and remaining a point of contact post-registration. Communicate with Deans to identify eligible courses for high school students and the required admissions criteria.

Department Chair

Propose courses to Dean with suggested instructor and estimates of other costs (e.g., higher than standard salary, teaching assistants, grading, lab expenses, copying), enrollment needed to break even, and projection of net revenue; approve ICPs in iO; decide whether courses run despite enrollment below the minimum, with justification for courses needed for graduation by May 2028, with the understanding that the department bears the revenue shortfall.

Department Administrator

Process ICPs in iO to pay instructors and manage other costs (TAs, grading, lab expenses, copying); perform other summer session duties as assigned by the department chair.

Office of the Registrar (OTR)

Provide a list of courses that are in high demand and would benefit from summer offerings. Create and publish final summer course schedule and academic calendar to include deadlines for course registrations, drops, pass/fail designations, etc.; administer refund rules (with Bursar’s Office); admit and process visiting post-baccalaureate student application and registration forms, secure needed documents, etc.; convey count of enrolled student-athletes to departments; administer in ESTHER the Rice course/instructor evaluation process for summer courses; provide data on registration to relevant departments; issue a report on courses where enrollment falls below minimum, and manage requests for exceptions to course minimums.

Academic Budgetary Affairs

Advises on setting tuition rates; coordinates budget development and monitoring; administers net revenue distribution.

Director of Athletics

Work with Athletics Academic Advising to provide the Dean of Undergraduates and the OTR with a list of courses that would be valuable to student-athletes, along with projected enrollment in those classes; establish internal Rice policy for which athletes are eligible for summer sessions; provide information to the OTR and the Academic Budget Office regarding which student-athletes are receiving tuition waivers.

Associate Provost Digital Learning and Strategy

For any proposed online courses, review and approve courses with the dean; provide oversight of course delivery and ensure appropriate quality to Rice standards.

Vice President for Global

Review and approve courses slated to be offered at Rice Global Paris Center; consult and provide guidance on study abroad courses, including locations that are not allowed for safety reasons.

Bursar

Post tuition and fees on the Bursar’s website; process bills for tuition and fees; ensure that deposits for fees and tuition are appropriately coded and recorded in a timely manner; administer the tuition refund policy.

Course Schedule / How to Offer a Course This Summer

In order to offer a course online in Summer 2027 (or any semester), you will need to have the course updated at the Course Catalog level before placing it on the Course Schedule.

Course Catalog

If a course does not appear in the Course Catalog yet, it will need to be added through the Course Creation process.

Additionally, if you plan to offer a course online that has not already been approved to be offered online, you will need to have that approved at the catalog level prior to placing it on the schedule due to Rice Policy 846 (https://policy.rice.edu/846).

The current steps are as follows:

  1. Work with Rice Online to formulate a plan for course development
  2. Submit a course change in CourseLeaf CIM

If you have already gone through the above steps for a specific course, you do not need to go through them again; rather, you can move on to the Course Schedule component below. If you have questions on whether or not you have gone through them for a specific course, please inquire with Saira Cooper (skc3@rice.edu).

Course Schedule

Once a course has been approved through the CourseLeaf CIM workflow steps to be offered online, it will be available to schedule online for a summer block. Your department scheduler can place the course on the Course Schedule into one of the following sessions by submitting the request through CourseLeaf CLSS.

Course Schedule Emails from OTR

Email correspondence will be added here for reference as it is sent.

Course Schedule FAQs

Are there standard meeting time blocks for the summer?

OTR has created suggested meeting time blocks, which are available here. These time blocks have been created with the idea that certain populations of students will have afternoon commitments, so the majority of time blocks will be before noon or in the evening. You are not required to use those meeting times.

What if I don't like the standard meeting time blocks and want to use a different one?

If you wish to use a time block other than the ones provided, you should ensure that adequate contact time is being met. OTR will review the meeting time supplied and may request additional information if the meeting time provided does not meet the expected contact time. These contact times below take into account any university holidays during the block. A three credit hour course will normally have 2100 minutes of contact time.

Additional contact times will soon be provided.


Undergraduate Research/Internship Courses

Rice students participating in organized summer undergraduate research/internship programs for credit are not charged tuition, up to 3 credit hours for each course type. In order for a course to count toward this program, the course must be an existing eligible research/internship course, and if an internship, be a domestic internship. (Internship courses that include international travel are not eligible for the waiver.) The OTR will verify with the appropriate entities that the course is eligible to be offered tuition-free. Student eligibility criteria for these courses is available at Summer Tuition and Fees.

Student Registration Procedures

Student registration procedures are available on the student Summer Sessions page.

Student Eligibility Criteria

At this time, the summer program is an opportunity for currently enrolled Rice students, and visiting students from other institutions including recent high school graduates, to take college coursework for credit.

Managing Courses Eligible for Visiting High School Students

To better track the courses eligible for Visiting High School Students, an updated process will govern course eligibility beginning in Summer 2027.

  • OTR will manage eligibility using the existing "High School VS Eligible" section attribute in CourseLeaf CLSS. Qualifying courses include 100 and 200-level courses that have no prerequisites, registration restrictions, or travel requirements.
  • OTR will automatically apply this attribute to all eligible sections prior to schedule publication. For sections added after publication, OTR will review and apply the attribute based on established criteria and documented departmental exceptions.
  • OTR will distribute lists of eligible 100 and 200-level summer courses to departments ahead of schedule publication for accuracy review and coordination.
  • Departments are responsible for reviewing their course sections for accuracy. Any requests to exclude an eligible section must be documented in CourseLeaf CLSS.

Tuition and Fees

Tuition and fee information is available on the Bursar's website.

Additional Information

If you have additional questions regarding the Summer Sessions, please email us at registrar@rice.edu or call us at 713-348-4999.