These highlights from the last academic year tell just part of the story of this vibrant and dynamic community and our collective achievements and successes. As a University, we look toward the opportunity to celebrate future successes in research, scholarship, and innovation, and to strengthen our commitment to diversity.
Leadership
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A New President
Marc B. Parlange, former provost at Monash University in Australia, became the University of Rhode Island’s 12th president, arriving on campus in August 2021.
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Affordable Education
URI Offers the most affordable out-of-state tuition of all state flagship research institutions in New England. Our in-state rate is the second most affordable.
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Engineering Trailblazers
URI’s International Engineering Program was the first program of its kind in the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Now in its 34th year, the innovative program prepares engineers for global careers with dual majors, including a foreign language.
Recognition
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Record Applicants
First-year student applications for the 2021 entering class totaled a record 25,105.
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Outstanding Pharmacy Placement
The College of Pharmacy’s postdoctoral placement rate for the Class of 2021 was 87%, placing it in the top 10 in the U.S.
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Top 50 for Nursing
URI’s College of Nursing master’s degree program broke into U.S. News & World Report’s top 50 national ranking.
Distinction
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Investment Success
The Ram Fund marked 20 years at URI while beating out more than 150 other student-managed investment funds around the globe to be ranked the #1 Core Portfolio at the Quinnipiac Global Asset Management Education Forum.
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Cyber Excellence
The Digital Forensics and Cyber Security Center at URI is designated a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education and Research by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.
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Historically Significant
URI’s historic district, comprising approximately 29 acres around the tree-lined quadrangle of the Kingston campus, appears on the National Register of Historic Places, recognizing its historical and architectural significance.
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A10 Champions
Rhody men’s track and field won its second straight and 13th overall Atlantic 10 Indoor Championship, finishing with an impressive five first-place wins.
Innovation
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MITRE BlueTech Lab
URI is a founding partner in a regional maritime technology coalition, the MITRE BlueTech Lab, which will be a national resource for advancing undersea innovation in acoustic sensing and communications, unmanned underwater vehicles, climate science research, and more.
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Plastics: Land to Sea
URI launched the Plastics: Land to Sea public web platform to support research-focused efforts geared toward solving plastics pollution through applied science and community collaboration.
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Build Back Better
A URI-led coalition competed against more than 500 regional teams and was named among 60 finalists in the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s nationwide $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge.
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Translational Science
URI and its partners received a $19.9M federal grant to expand translational science and biomedical research in Rhode Island. The initiative will fund public health scholars and research discoveries that would directly improve the lives of patients.
Investing in the Future
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Improving Our Campuses
$975M has been invested in capital projects and improvement since 2007, across all of URI’s campuses.
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Committed to Fine Arts
Rhode Island voters approved a bond issue that will result in $57.3M in improvements to URI’s Fine Arts Center.
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Expanding the Campaign
The goal of Big Ideas. Bold Plans. The Campaign for the University of Rhode Island was raised to $300M inspired by campaign gifts from more than 27,000 individuals.
Land Acknowledgement
The University of Rhode Island occupies the traditional stomping ground of the Narragansett Nation and the Niantic People. We honor and respect the enduring and continuing relationship between the Indigenous people and this land by teaching and learning more about their history and present-day communities, and by becoming stewards of the land we, now too, inhabit.
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Scholarship Opportunities
The Narragansett Undergraduate Scholarship was established in 2021; 16 URI students from the Narragansett Indian Tribe received the scholarship for the 2021–22 academic year.
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Preserving Culture
URI provided land, supporting efforts to build a new Tomaquag Museum, which will preserve and showcase the voices, perspectives, and culture of Indigenous people from local tribal communities.
