KINGSTON, R.I. – Aug. 20, 2025 – The University of Rhode Island is set to welcome thousands of new and returning students for the start of the 2025-26 academic year. Fall semester classes officially begin at the state’s flagship public research university on Sept. 3.

URI starts the year celebrating its new R1 status. The Carnegie Classification distinction places the University among the nation’s top research institutions. 

Student move-in days begin Friday, Aug. 29, and run through Monday, Sept. 1. Welcome events for new undergraduate students take place as part of O-Week (Aug. 29–Sept. 5) leading up to the start of classes. URI President Marc Parlange will greet and visit with students and families throughout move-in and give new students their official New Ram Welcome on Sept. 2 on the Quad at 4:30 p.m.

URI received a record 28,036 first-year undergraduate applications for the fall 2025 semester, as well as a record number of applications to its graduate programs. Over 3,300 first-year students will join more than 550 transfer students, more than 2,300 graduate students, and thousands of returning URI students, to comprise a student body of more than 17,000 when classes start.

The Student Entertainment Committee kicks off a year of student activities with an evening of comedy featuring Saturday Night Live’s Marcello Hernández on Sept. 9 at the Ryan Center. Tickets are on sale now for students and the general public. The Ryan Center is also hosting an evening with Jon Stewart on Oct. 25. 

New academic programs this fall

URI is offering several new graduate and undergraduate programs for the 2025-26 school year. 

see what’s new

President Parlange will deliver the annual State of the University Address on Friday, Sept. 19, at 4 p.m. in Edwards Auditorium. The address kicks off Homecoming Weekend, Sept. 19-21. Festivities include “Classes Without Quizzes” for alumni, pickleball with Marc and Mary Parlange, the annual Rhodyville Block Party and more. URI football plays Long Island University in Meade Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 20.

Registration for Project Connect starts Aug. 25. The six-week program begins in Sept. New students can get to know others and learn more about options at the University via one-hour weekly sessions. The program helps build connection and community through weekly small-group discussions led by student peer facilitators. New students are able to learn about campus events, resources and meet new people.  

The Multicultural Student Services Center will hold a Welcome Back get-together on the MSSC Patio on the afternoon of Sept. 2, 12 to 4 p.m.

Annual Quad Fest takes place Sept. 30 and includes the URI Student Organizations Fair, Rhody the Ram, lawn games, music, food, the Peckham Farm petting zoo, National Guard Rock Wall and more. 

About our students

• Approximately 5,500 students will live in 26 on-campus residence halls this fall, including 14 Living and Learning Communities. More than 600 students will reside in 16 fraternity and sorority houses on campus, another 70 will live in designated International Engineering Program housing, and 30 Talent Development program scholars will reside in the Talent Development Achievement House.
• This fall’s student body represents 47 different states and more than 65 countries.
• More than 30% of new students are the first in their family to attend college.
• Nearly 400 students involved in Greek Life at URI are volunteering to help during first-year move-in. This past spring, URI’s Greek community raised $170,000 during Greek Week to support Special Olympics RI, Best Buddies of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and packaged 20,000 meals for local food banks through Project Outreach. 
• This fall URI will welcome its first cohort of Helen Izzi Schilling ’54 and Francis Schilling Scholars, welcoming 26 students from 13 states. Last year URI announced a $65 million gift to support scholarships for high-achieving students. The philanthropic gift—the largest in the University’s history—is the result of an estate gift from the late Helen Izzi Schilling, who graduated from URI with honors in 1954.

Fall campus happenings and events

URI is hosting this year’s Northeast Regional Higher Education Neurodiversity Coalition Conference during move-in weekend, and will welcome noted animal scientist and autism spokesperson Temple Grandin to campus as the conference’s closing speaker on Aug. 30. The conference is open to the URI community and the public with on-site registration.

The annual Student Free Farmers Market opens Thursday, Sept. 4. The award-winning market offers fresh produce grown in URI’s Teaching Garden and at East Farm free to URI students. The market takes place weekly on Thursdays on the Quad and outside of Mackal-Tootell through October.

URI’s Gender and Sexuality Center holds its annual fall open house on Sept. 8, 4 to 6 p.m.

This year’s fall Honors Colloquium will examine “Education, Behind the Curtains.” The free annual educational forum brings experts to the University annually to examine issues of national and local relevance; the series will open on Sept. 16. The colloquium is free, open to the public, and also available online.

The College of Business is hosting a Block Party on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at Ballentine Hall; new students can learn about student clubs in the college, student support services, and meet advisors and faculty.

URI’s Center for the Humanities will host a yearlong lecture series on “The Humanities and Popular Culture/Counterculture,” beginning Sept. 25 with a performance by Rhode Island’s Extraordinary Rendition Band.

The URI Theatre season launches in October with a reimagined Pride and Prejudice leading the 2025–26 season (Oct. 17-19 and 22-26). Playwright Kate Hamill imbues hilarious new life into the classic love story with a progressive take on the trials and travails of Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Darcy, and the Bennet clan. 

URI is a Top Ten Military Friendly University and maritime center of excellence in education and research. This year’s Ocean Workforce Career Pathways event takes place on the Quad on Oct. 3, showing students how URI programs can lead to career paths in maritime government service, maritime industries, and the Blue Economy.

URI’s Guitar and Mandolin Festival celebrates its 10-year mark this year. This year’s festival takes place Oct. 19-26 and is one of the largest guitar festivals in the U.S.  

Family Weekend takes place Oct. 24-26.

The cult classic Rocky Horror Picture Show gets a free 50th anniversary screening on the evening of Halloween in Edwards Hall. Costumes encouraged — come ready to do the Time Warp again! Sponsored by the Gender and Sexuality Center, all are invited to join a lively, interactive evening celebrating the iconic moments that have made this film a timeless favorite. 

On Nov. 6, the award-winning documentary Silence on the Streets will be presented at URI, with a panel discussion, illustrating the impact of the opioid epidemic in southern New England.

Noteworthy

This fall, URI is offering new in-person and online programs: three new undergraduate degrees, five new master’s degrees, and two new graduate certificates, in addition to URI Online for undergraduate and graduate students. 

The URI Graduate School has seen an 11% increase in fall applications over last year and a 29% increase compared with two years ago and has received more than 5,300 inquiries about the University’s graduate programs. 

URI’s new “honors contract” option lets students turn credits from non-honors courses into honors credits by doing additional work related to courses, to dive deeper into subjects they’re passionate about. Applicants must have completed 60 credits before the term in which they engage in a contract. Completed contract proposals for the fall semester are due by Sept. 19; transfer students can apply. 

For more information on any of the items listed here, please visit the University of Rhode Island website at uri.edu. Download the Rhody Connect app for regular community updates.