Undergraduate life at Rice University differs from that at many universities because of Rice's tradition of residential colleges .
All colleges are coeducational.
Each college has faculty masters who live in a house next to the college. Upon agreement, the students and masters invite other members of the Rice faculty to become resident and nonresident associates of the college. Faculty associates act as advisers to the students and participate in the various activities of the college. Colleges also have nonfaculty university associates and community associates drawn from various professions in the Houston area. Each college exists as a self-governing group of students.