Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Motto	Mens et Manus(Latin)
Motto in English	"Mind and Hand"[1]
Type	Privateland-grantresearch university
Established	April 10, 1861; 163 years ago(1861-04-10)
Founder	William Barton Rogers
Accreditation	NECHE
Academic affiliations	AAU AITU COFHE NAICU[2] URA Sea grant Space grant
Endowment	$23.5 billion (2023)[3]
Chancellor	Melissa Nobles
President	Sally Kornbluth
Provost	Cynthia Barnhart
Academic staff	1,069[4]
Students	11,920 (2023–24)[5]
Undergraduates	4,576 (2023–24)[5]
Postgraduates	7,344 (2023–24)[5]
Location	Cambridge , Massachusetts , United States 42°21′35″N71°5′31″W / 42.35972°N 71.09194°W /42.35972; -71.09194
Campus	Midsize city[7], 166 acres (67.2 ha)[6]
Newspaper	The Tech
Colors	Cardinal red and steel gray[8]
Nickname	Engineers
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division III–NEWMAC NEISA CWPA UVC EARC EAWRC
Mascot	Tim the Beaver[9]
Website	web.mit.edu

TheMassachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) is aprivateland-grantresearch universityinCambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moderntechnologyandscience.

Founded in response to the increasingindustrialization of the United States, MIT adopted a Europeanpolytechnic university modeland stressed laboratory instruction inapplied scienceandengineering. MIT is one of three private land-grant universities in the United States, the others beingCornell UniversityandTuskegee University. The institute has anurban campusthat extends more than a mile (1.6 km) alongside theCharles River, and encompasses a number of major off-campus facilities such as theMIT Lincoln Laboratory, the Bates Center, and theHaystack Observatory, as well as affiliated laboratories such as theBroadandWhitehead Institutes.

As of October 2023^[update],101 Nobel laureates,^[10]26Turing Awardwinners, and 8Fields Medalistshave been affiliated with MIT as alumni, faculty members, or researchers.^[11]In addition, 58National Medal of Sciencerecipients, 29National Medals of Technology and Innovationrecipients, 50MacArthur Fellows,^[12]83Marshall Scholars,^[13]41astronauts,^[14]16Chief Scientists of the US Air Force, and1 foreign head of statehave been affiliated with MIT. The institute also has a strongentrepreneurial cultureand MIT alumni have founded or co-founded many notable companies.^[15][16]MIT is a member of theAssociation of American Universities.^[17]

In 1859, a proposal was submitted to theMassachusetts General Courtto use newly filled lands inBack Bay, Boston for a "Conservatory of Art and Science", but the proposal failed.^[19][20]A charter for theincorporationof the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, proposed byWilliam Barton Rogers, was signed byJohn Albion Andrew, thegovernor of Massachusetts, on April 10, 1861.^[21]

Rogers, who was educated at theCollege of William & Maryand later held professorships at bothWilliam & Maryand theUniversity of Virginia,^[22]wanted to establish an institution to address rapid scientific and technological advances.^[23][24]He did not wish to found aprofessional school, but a combination with elements of both professional andliberal education,^[25]proposing that:

The true and only practicable object of a polytechnic school is, as I conceive, the teaching, not of the minute details and manipulations of the arts, which can be done only in the workshop, but the inculcation of those scientific principles which form the basis and explanation of them, and along with this, a full and methodical review of all their leading processes and operations in connection with physical laws.^[26]

The Rogers Plan reflected theGerman research university model, emphasizing an independent faculty engaged in research, as well as instruction oriented around seminars and laboratories.^[27][28]

Two days after MIT was chartered, thefirst battleof theCivil Warbroke out. After a long delay through the war years, MIT's first classes were held in the Mercantile Building in Boston in 1865.^[29]The new institute was founded as part of theMorrill Land-Grant Colleges Actto fund institutions "to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes" and was a land-grant school.^[30][31]In 1863 under the same act, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts founded theMassachusetts Agricultural College, which developed as theUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst. In 1866, the proceeds from land sales went toward new buildings in the Back Bay.^[32]

MIT was informally called "Boston Tech".^[32]The institute adopted theEuropean polytechnic university modeland emphasized laboratory instruction from an early date.^[27]Despite chronic financial problems, the institute saw growth in the last two decades of the 19th century under PresidentFrancis Amasa Walker.^[33]Programs in electrical, chemical, marine, and sanitary engineering were introduced,^[34][35]new buildings were built, and the size of the student body increased to more than one thousand.^[33]

The curriculum drifted to a vocational emphasis, with less focus on theoretical science.^[36]The fledgling school still suffered from chronic financial shortages which diverted the attention of the MIT leadership. During these "Boston Tech" years, MIT faculty and alumni rebuffedHarvard Universitypresident (and former MIT faculty)Charles W. Eliot's repeated attempts to merge MIT with Harvard College'sLawrence Scientific School.^[37]There would be at least six attempts to absorb MIT into Harvard.^[38]In its cramped Back Bay location, MIT could not afford to expand its overcrowded facilities, driving a desperate search for a new campus and funding. Eventually, the MIT Corporation approved a formal agreement to merge with Harvard, over the vehement objections of MIT faculty, students, and alumni.^[38]However, a 1917 decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court effectively put an end to the merger scheme.^[38]

In 1916, the MIT administration and the MIT charter crossed the Charles River on the ceremonial bargeBucentaurbuilt for the occasion,^[39][40]to signify MIT's move to a spacious new campus largely consisting offilled landon a one mile-long (1.6 km) tract along the Cambridge side of the Charles River.^[41][42]Theneoclassical"New Technology" campus was designed byWilliam W. Bosworth^[43]and had been funded largely by anonymous donations from a mysterious "Mr. Smith", starting in 1912. In January 1920, the donor was revealed to be the industrialistGeorge EastmanofRochester, New York, who had invented methods of film production and processing, and foundedEastman Kodak. Between 1912 and 1920, Eastman donated $20 million ($236.6 million in 2015 dollars) in cash and Kodak stock to MIT.^[44]

In the 1930s, PresidentKarl Taylor Comptonand Vice-President (effectivelyProvost)Vannevar Bushemphasized the importance of pure sciences like physics and chemistry and reduced the vocational practice required in shops and drafting studios.^[45]The Compton reforms "renewed confidence in the ability of the Institute to develop leadership in science as well as in engineering".^[46]UnlikeIvy Leagueschools, MIT catered more to middle-class families, and depended more ontuitionthan onendowmentsorgrantsfor its funding.^[47]The school was elected to theAssociation of American Universitiesin 1934.^[48]

Still, as late as 1949, the Lewis Committee lamented in its report on the state of education at MIT that "the Institute is widely conceived as basically a vocational school", a "partly unjustified" perception the committee sought to change. The report comprehensively reviewed the undergraduate curriculum, recommended offering a broader education, and warned against letting engineering and government-sponsored research detract from the sciences and humanities.^[49][50]TheSchool of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciencesand theMIT Sloan School of Managementwere formed in 1950 to compete with the powerful Schools ofScienceandEngineering. Previously marginalized faculties in the areas of economics, management, political science, and linguistics emerged into cohesive and assertive departments by attracting respected professors and launching competitive graduate programs.^[51][52]The School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences continued to develop under the successive terms of the morehumanistically orientedpresidentsHoward W. JohnsonandJerome Wiesnerbetween 1966 and 1980.^[53]

MIT's involvement inmilitary sciencesurged duringWorld War II. In 1941,Vannevar Bushwas appointed head of the federalOffice of Scientific Research and Developmentand directed funding to only a select group of universities, including MIT.^[54]Engineers and scientists from across the country gathered at MIT'sRadiation Laboratory, established in 1940 to assist theBritish militaryin developingmicrowaveradar. The work done there significantly affected both the war and subsequent research in the area.^[55]Other defense projects includedgyroscope-based and other complexcontrol systemsforgunsight,bombsight, andinertial navigationunderCharles Stark Draper'sInstrumentation Laboratory;^[56][57]the development of adigital computerfor flight simulations underProject Whirlwind;^[58]andhigh-speedandhigh-altitudephotography underHarold Edgerton.^[59][60]By the end of the war, MIT became the nation's largest wartime R&D contractor (attracting some criticism of Bush),^[54]employing nearly 4000 in the Radiation Laboratory alone^[55]and receiving in excess of $100 million ($1.2 billion in 2015 dollars) before 1946.^[46]Work on defense projects continued even after then. Post-wargovernment-sponsored researchat MIT includedSAGEand guidance systems forballistic missilesandProject Apollo.^[61]

These activities affected MIT profoundly. A 1949 report noted the lack of "any great slackening in the pace of life at the Institute" to match the return to peacetime, remembering the "academic tranquility of the prewar years", though acknowledging the significant contributions of military research to the increased emphasis on graduate education and rapid growth of personnel and facilities.^[63]The faculty doubled and the graduate student body quintupled during the terms ofKarl Taylor Compton, president of MIT between 1930 and 1948;James Rhyne Killian, president from 1948 to 1957; andJulius Adams Stratton, chancellor from 1952 to 1957, whose institution-building strategies shaped the expanding university. By the 1950s, MIT no longer simply benefited the industries with which it had worked for three decades, and it had developed closer working relationships with new patrons, philanthropic foundations and the federal government.^[64]

In late 1960s and early 1970s, student and faculty activists protested against theVietnam Warand MIT's defense research.^[65][66]In this period MIT's various departments were researching helicopters, smart bombs and counterinsurgency techniques for the war in Vietnam as well as guidance systems for nuclear missiles.^[67]TheUnion of Concerned Scientistswas founded on March 4, 1969 during a meeting of faculty members and students seeking to shift the emphasis on military research toward environmental and social problems.^[68]MIT ultimately divested itself from the Instrumentation Laboratory and moved all classified research off-campus to theMIT Lincoln Laboratoryfacility in 1973 in response to the protests.^[69][70]The student body, faculty, and administration remained comparatively unpolarized during what was a tumultuous time for many other universities.^[65]Johnson was seen to be highly successful in leading his institution to "greater strength and unity" after these times of turmoil.^[71]However six MIT students were sentenced to prison terms at this time and some former student leaders, such asMichael AlbertandGeorge Katsiaficas, are still indignant about MIT's role in military research and its suppression of these protests.^[72](Richard Leacock's film,November Actions, records some of these tumultuous events.^[73])

In the 1980s, there was more controversy at MIT over its involvement in SDI (space weaponry) and CBW (chemical and biological warfare) research.^[74]More recently, MIT's research for the military has included work on robots, drones and 'battle suits'.^[75]

MIT has kept pace with and helped to advance the digital age. In addition to developing the predecessors to modern computing andnetworkingtechnologies,^[76][77]students, staff, and faculty members atProject MAC, theArtificial Intelligence Laboratory, and theTech Model Railroad Clubwrote some of the earliest interactivecomputer video gameslikeSpacewar!and created much of modernhackerslangand culture.^[78]Several major computer-related organizations have originated at MIT since the 1980s:Richard Stallman'sGNU Projectand the subsequentFree Software Foundationwere founded in the mid-1980s at the AI Lab; theMIT Media Labwas founded in 1985 byNicholas Negroponteand Jerome Wiesner to promote research into novel uses of computer technology;^[79]theWorld Wide Web Consortiumstandards organizationwas founded at theLaboratory for Computer Sciencein 1994 byTim Berners-Lee;^[80]theOpenCourseWareproject has made course materials for over 2,000 MIT classes available online free of charge since 2002;^[81]and theOne Laptop per Childinitiative to expand computer education and connectivity to children worldwide was launched in 2005.^[82]

MIT was named asea-grant collegein 1976 to support its programs in oceanography and marine sciences and was named aspace-grant collegein 1989 to support its aeronautics and astronautics programs.^[83][84]Despite diminishing government financial support over the past quarter century, MIT launched several successfuldevelopment campaignsto significantly expand the campus: new dormitories and athletics buildings on west campus; theTang Center for Management Education; several buildings in the northeast corner of campus supporting research intobiology,brain and cognitive sciences,genomics,biotechnology, andcancer research; and a number of new "backlot" buildings on Vassar Street including theStata Center.^[85]Construction on campus in the 2000s included expansions of the Media Lab, the Sloan School's eastern campus, and graduate residences in the northwest.^[86][87]In 2006, President Hockfield launched the MIT Energy Research Council to investigate the interdisciplinary challenges posed by increasingglobal energy consumption.^[88]

In 2001, inspired by theopen sourceandopen access movements,^[89]MIT launchedOpenCourseWareto make the lecture notes,problem sets, syllabi, exams, and lectures from the great majority of its courses available online for no charge, though without any formal accreditation for coursework completed.^[90]While the cost of supporting and hosting the project is high,^[91]OCW expanded in 2005 to include other universities as a part of the OpenCourseWare Consortium, which currently includes more than 250 academic institutions with content available in at least six languages.^[92]In 2011, MIT announced it would offer formal certification (but not credits or degrees) to online participants completing coursework in its "MITx" program, for a modest fee.^[93]The "edX" online platform supporting MITx was initially developed in partnership withHarvardand its analogous "Harvardx" initiative. The courseware platform is open source, and other universities have already joined and added their own course content.^[94]In March 2009 the MIT faculty adopted anopen-access policyto make its scholarshippublicly accessibleonline.^[95]

MIT has its own police force. Three days after theBoston Marathon bombingof April 2013,MIT Policepatrol officerSean Collierwas fatally shot by the suspectsDzhokharandTamerlan Tsarnaev, setting off a violent manhunt that shut down the campus and much of the Boston metropolitan area for a day.^[96]One week later, Collier's memorial service was attended by more than 10,000 people, in a ceremony hosted by the MIT community with thousands of police officers from the New England region and Canada.^[97][98][99]On November 25, 2013, MIT announced the creation of the Collier Medal, to be awarded annually to "an individual or group that embodies the character and qualities that Officer Collier exhibited as a member of the MIT community and in all aspects of his life". The announcement further stated that "Future recipients of the award will include those whose contributions exceed the boundaries of their profession, those who have contributed to building bridges across the community, and those who consistently and selflessly perform acts of kindness".^{[100][101][102]}

In September 2017, the school announced the creation of anartificial intelligenceresearch lab called the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab.IBMwill spend $240 million over the next decade, and the lab will be staffed by MIT and IBM scientists.^[103]In October 2018 MIT announced that it would open a newSchwarzman College of Computingdedicated to the study of artificial intelligence, named after lead donor andThe Blackstone GroupCEOStephen Schwarzman. The focus of the new college is to study not just AI, but interdisciplinary AI education, and how AI can be used in fields as diverse as history and biology. The cost of buildings and new faculty for the new college is expected to be $1 billion upon completion.^[104]

TheLaser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory(LIGO) was designed and constructed by a team of scientists fromCalifornia Institute of Technology, MIT, and industrial contractors, and funded by theNational Science Foundation. It was designed to open the field ofgravitational-wave astronomythrough the detection ofgravitational wavespredicted bygeneral relativity.^[105]Gravitational waves weredetected for the first timeby the LIGO detector in 2015. For contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves, two Caltech physicists,Kip ThorneandBarry Barish, and MIT physicistRainer Weisswon theNobel Prize in physicsin 2017.^[106]Weiss, who is also an MIT graduate, designed the laser interferometric technique, which served as the essential blueprint for the LIGO.^[107]

MIT's 166-acre (67.2 ha) campus in the city ofCambridgespans approximately a mile along the north side of theCharles Riverbasin.^[6]The campus is divided roughly in half byMassachusetts Avenue, with most dormitories and student life facilities to the west and most academic buildings to the east. The bridge closest to MIT is theHarvard Bridge, which is known for being marked off in anon-standard unit of length– thesmoot.^[108][109]

TheKendall/MITMBTA Red Linestation is located on the northeastern edge of the campus, inKendall Square. The Cambridge neighborhoods surrounding MIT are a mixture of high tech companies occupying both modern office and rehabilitated industrial buildings, as well as socio-economically diverse residential neighborhoods.^[110][111]In early 2016, MIT presented its updated Kendall Square Initiative to the City of Cambridge, with plans for mixed-use educational, retail, residential, startup incubator, and office space in a dense high-risetransit-oriented developmentplan. TheMIT Museumhas moved immediately adjacent to a Kendall Square subway entrance, joining theList Visual Arts Centeron the eastern end of the campus.^[112]

Each building at MIThas a number(possibly preceded by aW,N,E, orNW) designation, and most have a name as well. Typically, academic and office buildings are referred to primarily by number while residence halls are referred to by name. The organization of building numbers roughly corresponds to the order in which the buildings were built and their location relative (north, west, and east) to the original center cluster of Maclaurin buildings.^[113]Many of the buildings are connected above ground as well as through an extensive network of tunnels, providing protection from the Cambridge weather as well as a venue forroof and tunnel hacking.^[114][115]

MIT's on-campus nuclear reactor^[116]is one of the most powerful university-basednuclear reactorsin the United States. The prominence of the reactor's containment building in a densely populated area has been controversial,^[117]but MIT maintains that it is well-secured.^[118]In 1999Bill Gatesdonated US$20 million to MIT for the construction of a computer laboratory named the "William H. Gates Building", and designed by architectFrank Gehry. While Microsoft had previously given financial support to the institution, this was the first personal donation received from Gates.^[119]

MIT Nano, also known as Building 12, is an interdisciplinary facility for nanoscale research. Its 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m²)cleanroomand research space, visible through expansive glass facades, is the largest research facility of its kind in the nation.^[120]With a cost of US$400 million, it is also one of the costliest buildings on campus. The facility also provides state-of-the-art nanoimaging capabilities with vibration damped imaging and metrology suites sitting atop a 5×10^⁶lb (2,300,000 kg) slab of concrete underground.^[121]

Other notable campus facilities include a pressurizedwind tunnelfor testingaerodynamicresearch, atowing tankfor testing ship and ocean structure designs, and previouslyAlcator C-Mod, which was the largest fusion device operated by any university.^[122][123]MIT's campus-wide wireless network was completed in the fall of 2005 and consists of nearly 3,000 access points covering 9.4×10^⁶sq ft (870,000 m²) of campus.^[124]

In 2001, theEnvironmental Protection Agencysued MIT for violating theClean Water Actand theClean Air Actwith regard to itshazardous wastestorage and disposal procedures.^[125]MIT settled the suit by paying a $155,000 fine and launching three environmental projects.^[126]In connection with capital campaigns to expand the campus, the Institute has also extensively renovated existing buildings to improve their energy efficiency. MIT has also taken steps to reduce its environmental impact by runningalternative fuelcampus shuttles, subsidizingpublic transportation passes, and building a low-emissioncogenerationplant that serves most of the campus electricity, heating, and cooling requirements.^[127]

MIT has substantialcommercial real estateholdings in Cambridge on which it paysproperty taxes, plus an additional voluntarypayment in lieu of taxes(PILOT) on academic buildings which are legally tax-exempt. As of 2017^[update], it is the largest taxpayer in the city, contributing approximately 14% of the city's annual revenues.^[128]Holdings includeTechnology Square, parts ofKendall Square, and many properties inCambridgeportandArea 4neighboring the educational buildings.^[129]The land is held for investment purposes and potential long-term expansion.^[130]

MIT's School of Architecture, founded in 1865^[131]and now called the School of Architecture and Planning, was the first formal architecture program in the United States,^[132]and it has a history of commissioning progressive buildings.^[133][134]The first buildings constructed on the Cambridge campus, completed in 1916, are sometimes called the "Maclaurin buildings" after Institute presidentRichard Maclaurinwho oversaw their construction. Designed byWilliam Welles Bosworth, these imposing buildings were built ofreinforced concrete, a first for a non-industrial – much less university – building in the US.^[135]Bosworth's design was influenced by theCity Beautiful Movementof the early 1900s^[135]and features thePantheon-esque Great Dome housing the Barker Engineering Library. The Great Dome overlooks Killian Court, wheregraduationceremonies are held each year. The friezes of the limestone-clad buildings around Killian Court are engraved with the names of important scientists and philosophers.^[a]The spacious Building 7 atrium at77 Massachusetts Avenueis regarded as the entrance to theInfinite Corridorand the rest of the campus.^[111]

Alvar Aalto's Baker House (1947),Eero Saarinen'sMIT ChapelandKresge Auditorium(1955), andI.M. Pei'sGreen, Dreyfus, Landau, andWiesnerbuildings represent high forms of post-warmodernist architecture.^{[138][139][140]}More recent buildings likeFrank Gehry'sStata Center(2004),Steven Holl'sSimmons Hall(2002),Charles Correa's Building 46 (2005), andFumihiko Maki's Media Lab Extension (2009) stand out among the Boston area's classical architecture and serve as examples of contemporary campus "starchitecture".^[133][141]These buildings have not always been well received;^[142][143]in 2010,The Princeton Reviewincluded MIT in a list of twenty schools whose campuses are "tiny, unsightly, or both".^[144]

Undergraduates are guaranteed four-year housing in one of MIT's 11 undergraduate dormitories.^[145]Those living on campus can receive support and mentoring from live-in graduate student tutors, resident advisors, and faculty housemasters.^[146]Because housing assignments are made based on the preferences of the students themselves, diverse social atmospheres can be sustained in different living groups; for example, according to theYale Daily Newsstaff'sThe Insider's Guide to the Colleges, 2010, "The split between East Campus and West Campus is a significant characteristic of MIT. East Campus has gained a reputation as a thriving counterculture."^[147]MIT also has 5 dormitories for single graduate students and 2 apartment buildings on campus for married student families.^[148]

MIT has an active Greek andco-op housingsystem, including thirty-sixfraternities,sororities, and independent living groups (FSILGs).^[149]As of 2015^[update], 98% of all undergraduates lived in MIT-affiliated housing; 54% of the men participated in fraternities and 20% of the women were involved in sororities.^[150]Most FSILGs are located across the river inBack Baynear where MIT was founded, and there is also a cluster of fraternities on MIT's West Campus that face the Charles River Basin.^[151]After the 1997 alcohol-related death of Scott Krueger, a new pledge at thePhi Gamma Deltafraternity, MIT required all freshmen to live in the dormitory system starting in 2002.^[152]Because FSILGs had previously housed as many as 300 freshmen off-campus, the new policy could not be implemented untilSimmons Hallopened in that year.^[153]

In 2013–2014, MIT abruptly closed and then demolished undergrad dorm Bexley Hall, citing extensive water damage that made repairs infeasible. In 2017, MIT shut down Senior House after a century of service as an undergrad dorm. That year, MIT administrators released data showing just 60% of Senior House residents had graduated in four years. Campus-wide, the four-year graduation rate is 84% (the cumulative graduation rate is significantly higher).^[154]

MIT is chartered as a non-profit organization and is owned and governed by a privately appointedboard of trusteesknown as the MIT Corporation.^[155]The current board consists of 43 members elected to five-year terms,^[156]25 life members who vote until their 75th birthday,^[157]3 elected officers (President, Treasurer, and Secretary),^[158]and 4ex officiomembers (the president of the alumni association, theGovernor of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Secretary of Education, and the Chief Justice of theMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court).^[159][160]The board is chaired by Diane Greene SM ’78, co-founder and former CEO of VMware and former CEO of Google Cloud.^[161]The Corporation approves the budget, new programs, degrees and faculty appointments, and elects the President to serve as the chief executive officer of the university and preside over the Institute's faculty.^[111][162]MIT'sendowmentandother financial assetsare managed through a subsidiary called MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo).^[163]Valued at $16.4 billion in 2018, MIT's endowment was then thesixth-largest among American colleges and universities.^[164]

MIT has five schools (Science,Engineering,Architecture and Planning,Management, andHumanities, Arts, and Social Sciences) and one college (Schwarzman College of Computing), but no schools of law or medicine.^{[165][b][167]}While faculty committees assert substantial control over many areas of MIT's curriculum, research, student life, and administrative affairs,^[168]the chair of each of MIT's 32 academic departments reports to the dean of that department's school, who in turn reports to the Provost under the President.^[169]The current president isSally Kornbluth, a cell biologist and former provost atDuke University. She became MIT's 18th president in January 2023.^[170]She was preceded byL. Rafael Reif, who had served as provost under PresidentSusan Hockfield, the first woman to hold the post.^[171][172]

Undergraduate admissions statistics
2022 entering class [173] Change vs. 2017[174]
Admit rate	4.0% (−3.2)
Yield rate	85.0% (+9.5)
Test scoresmiddle 50%
SATTotal	1520⁠–1570
ACTComposite	35–36

MIT is a large, highly residential, research university with a majority of enrollments in graduate and professional programs.^[175]The university has beenaccreditedby theNew England Association of Schools and Collegessince 1929.^[176]MIT operates on a4–1–4 academic calendarwith the fall semester beginning afterLabor Dayand ending in mid-December, a 4-week "Independent Activities Period" in the month of January, and the spring semester commencing in early February and ceasing in late May.^[177]

MIT students refer to both their majors and classes using numbers or acronyms alone.^[178]Departments and their corresponding majors are numbered in the approximate order of their foundation; for example, Civil and Environmental Engineering isCourse 1, while Linguistics and Philosophy isCourse 24.^[179]Students majoring in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), the most popular department, collectively identify themselves as "Course 6". MIT students use a combination of the department's course number and the number assigned to the class to identify their subjects; for instance, the introductory calculus-basedclassical mechanicscourse is simply "8.01" (pronouncedeight-oh-one) at MIT.^[180][c]

Enrollment in MIT (2017–2023)

Academic Year	Undergraduates	Graduate	Total Enrollment
2017–2018[174]	4,547	6,919	11,466
2018–2019[183]	4,602	6,972	11,574
2019–2020[184]	4,530	6,990	11,520
2020–2021[185]	4,361	6,893	11,254
2021–2022[186]	4,638	7,296	11,934
2022–2023[173]	4,657	7,201	11,858

The four-year, full-time undergraduate program maintains a balance between professional majors and those in the arts and sciences. In 2010, it was dubbed "most selective" byU.S. News,^[187]admitting few transfer students^[175]and 4.1% of its applicants in the 2020–2021 admissions cycle.^[188]It isneed-blindfor both domestic and international applicants.^[189]MIT offers 44 undergraduate degrees across its five schools.^[190]In the 2017–2018 academic year, 1,045 Bachelor of Science degrees (abbreviated "SB") were granted, the only type of undergraduate degree MIT now awards.^{[needs update][191][192]}In the 2011 fall term, among students who had designated a major, the School of Engineering was the most popular division, enrolling 63% of students in its 19 degree programs, followed by the School of Science (29%), School of Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences (3.7%), Sloan School of Management (3.3%), and School of Architecture and Planning (2%).^{[needs update]}The largest undergraduate degree programs were in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Course 6–2), Computer Science and Engineering (Course 6–3), Mechanical Engineering (Course 2), Physics (Course 8), and Mathematics (Course 18).^[181]

All undergraduates are required to complete a core curriculum called the General Institute Requirements (GIRs).^[193]The Science Requirement, generally completed during freshman year as prerequisites for classes in science and engineering majors, comprises two semesters of physics, two semesters of calculus, one semester of chemistry, and one semester of biology. There is a Laboratory Requirement, usually satisfied by an appropriate class in a course major. The Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) Requirement consists of eight semesters of classes in the humanities, arts, and social sciences, including at least one semester from each division as well as the courses required for a designated concentration in a HASS division. Under the Communication Requirement, two of the HASS classes, plus two of the classes taken in the designated major must be "communication-intensive",^[194]including "substantial instruction and practice in oral presentation".^[195]Finally, all students are required to complete aswimmingtest;^[196]non-varsity athletes must also take four quarters ofphysical educationclasses.^[193]

Most classes rely on a combination of lectures, recitations led by associate professors or graduate students, weekly problem sets ("p-sets"), and periodic quizzes or tests. While the pace and difficulty of MIT coursework has been compared to "drinking from a fire hose",^{[197][198][199]}the freshmen retention rate at MIT is similar to other research universities.^[187]The "pass/no-record" grading system relieves some pressure for first-year undergraduates. For each class taken in the fall term, freshmen transcripts will either report only that the class was passed, or otherwise not have any record of it. In the spring term, passing grades (A, B, C) appear on the transcript while non-passing grades are again not recorded.^[200](Grading had previously been "pass/no record" all freshman year, but was amended for the Class of 2006 to prevent students fromgaming the systemby completing required major classes in their freshman year.^[201]) Also, freshmen may choose to join alternative learning communities, such asExperimental Study Group,Concourse, or Terrascope.^[200]

In 1969,Margaret MacVicarfounded theUndergraduate Research Opportunities Program(UROP) to enable undergraduates to collaborate directly with faculty members and researchers. Students join or initiate research projects ("UROPs") for academic credit, pay, or on a volunteer basis through postings on the UROP website or by contacting faculty members directly.^[202]A substantial majority of undergraduates participate.^[203][204]Students often becomepublished, filepatent applications, and/or launchstart-up companiesbased upon their experience in UROPs.^[205][206]

In 1970, the then-Dean of Institute Relations, Benson R. Snyder, publishedThe Hidden Curriculum,arguing that education at MIT was often slighted in favor of following a set of unwritten expectations and that graduating with good grades was more often the product of figuring out the system rather than a solid education. The successful student, according to Snyder, was the one who was able to discern which of the formal requirements were to be ignored in favor of which unstated norms. For example, organized student groups had compiled "course bibles"—collections of problem-set and examination questions and answers for later students to use as references. This sort of gamesmanship, Snyder argued, hindered development of a creative intellect and contributed to student discontent and unrest.^[207][208]

MIT's graduate program has high coexistence with the undergraduate program, and many courses are taken by qualified students at both levels. MIT offers a comprehensive doctoral program with degrees in the humanities, social sciences, andSTEM fieldsas well as professional degrees, including theMaster of Business Administration(MBA).^[175]The Institute offers graduate programs leading to academic degrees such as the Master of Science (which is abbreviated as MS at MIT), various Engineer's Degrees, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), andDoctor of Science(DSc) and interdisciplinary graduate programs such as theMD-PhD(withHarvard Medical School) and a joint program inoceanographywithWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution.^{[209][210][211][212]}

Admission to graduate programs is decentralized; applicants apply directly to the department or degree program. More than 90% of doctoral students are supported by fellowships, research assistantships (RAs), or teaching assistantships (TAs).^[213]

MIT Bootcamps are "intense week-long innovation and leadership programs".^[214]MIT Bootcamp instructors includeEric von Hippel,Sanjay Sarma,Erdin Beshimov, andBill Aulet.^[215]MIT Bootcamps were founded byErdin Beshimov.^{[216][217][218]}

Academic rankings
National
ARWU[219]	3
Forbes[220]	4
U.S. News & World Report[221]	2
Washington Monthly[222]	3
WSJ/College Pulse[223]	2
Global
ARWU[224]	3
QS[225]	1
THE[226]	3
U.S. News & World Report[227]	2

MIT places among the top five in many overall rankings of universities (see table right) and rankings based on students'revealed preferences.^{[228][229][230]}For several years,U.S. News & World Report, theQS World University Rankings, and theAcademic Ranking of World Universitieshave ranked MIT's School of Engineering first, as did the 1995National Research Councilreport.^[231]In the same lists, MIT's strongest showings apart from in engineering are in computer science, the natural sciences, business, architecture, economics, linguistics, mathematics, and, to a lesser extent, political science and philosophy.^[232]

Times Higher Educationhas recognized MIT as one of the world's "six super brands" on itsWorld Reputation Rankings, along withBerkeley,Cambridge,Harvard,Oxford, andStanford.^[233]In 2019, it was ranked #3 among the universities around the world bySCImago Institutions Rankings.^[234]In 2017, theTimes Higher Education World University Rankingsalso rated MIT the #2 university for arts and humanities.^[235][236]MIT was ranked #7 in 2015 and #6 in 2017 of the Nature Index Annual Tables, which measure the largest contributors to papers published in 82 leading journals.^{[237][238][239]}Georgetown University researchers ranked MIT #3 in the US for 20-yearreturn on investment.^[240]

The university historically pioneered research and training collaborations between academia, industry and government.^[241][242]In 1946, President Compton, Harvard Business School professorGeorges Doriot, and Massachusetts Investor Trust chairman Merrill Grisswold foundedAmerican Research and Development Corporation, the first Americanventure-capitalfirm.^[243][244]In 1948, Compton established the MIT Industrial Liaison Program.^[245]Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, American politicians and business leaders accused MIT and other universities of contributing to adeclining economybytransferringtaxpayer-funded research and technology to international – especiallyJapanese– firms that were competing with struggling American businesses.^[246][247]On the other hand, MIT's extensive collaboration with the federal government on research projects has led to several MIT leaders serving aspresidential scientific adviserssince 1940.^[d]MIT established a Washington Office in 1991 to continue effectivelobbyingfor research funding and nationalscience policy.^[249][250]

TheUS Justice Departmentbegan an investigation in 1989, and in 1991 filed anantitrust suitagainst MIT, the eightIvy Leaguecolleges, and eleven other institutions for allegedly engaging inprice-fixingduring their annual "Overlap Meetings", which were held to prevent bidding wars over promising prospective students from consuming funds for need-based scholarships.^[251][252]While the Ivy League institutionssettled,^[253]MIT contested the charges, arguing that the practice was not anti-competitive because it ensured the availability of aid for the greatest number of students.^[254][255]MIT ultimately prevailed when the Justice Department dropped the case in 1994.^[256][257]

MIT's proximity^[e]toHarvard University("the other school up theriver") has led to a substantial number of research collaborations such as theHarvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technologyand theBroad Institute.^[258]In addition, students at the two schools cancross-registerfor credits toward their own school's degrees without any additional fees.^[258]A cross-registration program between MIT andWellesley Collegehas also existed since 1969, and in 2002 theCambridge–MIT Institutelaunched an undergraduate exchange program between MIT and theUniversity of Cambridge.^[258]MIT also has a long-term partnership withImperial College London, for both student exchanges and research collaboration.^[259][260]More modest cross-registration programs have been established withBoston University,Brandeis University,Tufts University,Massachusetts College of Art, and theSchool of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.^[258]

MIT maintains substantial research and faculty ties with independent research organizations in the Boston area, such as theCharles Stark Draper Laboratory, theWhitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, and theWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution.^[212]Ongoing international research and educational collaborations include theAmsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions(AMS Institute),^[261]Singapore-MIT Alliance, MIT-Politecnico di Milano,^[258][262]MIT-ZaragozaInternational Logistics Program, and projects in other countries through the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) program.^[258][263]

The mass-market magazineTechnology Reviewis published by MIT through a subsidiary company, as is a special edition that also serves as analumni magazine.^[264][265]TheMIT Pressis a majoruniversity press, publishing over 200 books and 30 journals annually, emphasizing science and technology as well as arts, architecture, new media, current events, and social issues.^[266]

MIT Microphotonics Center andPhotonDeltafounded the global roadmap for integrated photonics: Integrated Photonics Systems Roadmap – International (IPSR-I). The first edition has been published in 2020. The roadmap is an amalgamation of two previously independent roadmaps: the IPSR roadmap of MIT Microphotonics Center and AIM Photonics in the United States, and the WTMF (World Technology Mapping Forum) of PhotonDelta in Europe.^[267]In 2022, Open Philanthropy donated $13,277,348 to MIT to study potential risks from AI.^[268]

The MIT library system consists of five subject libraries: Barker (Engineering), Dewey (Economics), Hayden (Humanities and Science), Lewis (Music), and Rotch (Arts and Architecture). There are also various specialized libraries and archives. The libraries contain more than 2.9 million printed volumes, 2.4 million microforms, 49,000 print or electronic journal subscriptions, and 670 reference databases. The past decade has seen a trend of increased focus on digital over print resources in the libraries.^[269]Notable collections include the Lewis Music Library with an emphasis on 20th and 21st-century music and electronic music,^[270]theList Visual Arts Center's rotating exhibitions of contemporary art,^[271]and the Compton Gallery's cross-disciplinary exhibitions.^[272]MIT allocates a percentage of the budget for all new construction and renovation to commission and support its extensive public art and outdoor sculpture collection.^[273][274]

TheMIT Museumwas founded in 1971 and collects, preserves, and exhibits artifacts significant to the culture andhistory of MIT. The museum now engages in significant educational outreach programs for the general public, including the annualCambridge Science Festival, the first celebration of this kind in the United States. Since 2005, its official mission has been, "to engage the wider community with MIT's science, technology and other areas of scholarship in ways that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century".^[275]

MIT was elected to theAssociation of American Universitiesin 1934 and isclassifiedamong "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity";^[48][175]research expenditures totaled $952 million in 2017.^[276]The federal government was the largest source of sponsored research, with theDepartment of Health and Human Servicesgranting $255.9 million,Department of Defense$97.5 million,Department of Energy$65.8 million,National Science Foundation$61.4 million, andNASA$27.4 million.^[277]MIT employs approximately 1300 researchers in addition to faculty.^[278]In 2011, MIT faculty and researchers disclosed 632 inventions, were issued 153 patents, earned $85.4 million in cash income, and received $69.6 million in royalties.^[279]Through programs like the Deshpande Center, MIT faculty leverage their research and discoveries into multi-million-dollar commercial ventures.^[280]

In electronics,magnetic-core memory,radar,single-electron transistors, andinertial guidancecontrols were invented or substantially developed by MIT researchers.^[281][282]Harold Eugene Edgertonwas a pioneer inhigh-speed photographyandsonar.^[283][284]Claude E. Shannondeveloped much of moderninformation theoryand discovered the application ofBoolean logictodigital circuitdesign theory.^[285]In the domain of computer science, MIT faculty and researchers made fundamental contributions tocybernetics,artificial intelligence,computer languages,machine learning,robotics, andcryptography.^[282][286]At least nineTuring Awardlaureates and seven recipients of theDraper Prizein engineering have been or are currently associated with MIT.^[287][288]

Current and previous physics faculty have won eightNobel Prizes,^[289]fourICTP Dirac Medals,^[290]and threeWolf Prizespredominantly for their contributions to subatomic andquantumtheory.^[291]Members of the chemistry department have been awarded threeNobel Prizesand one Wolf Prize for the discovery of novel syntheses and methods.^[289]MIT biologists have been awarded sixNobel Prizesfor their contributions to genetics, immunology, oncology, and molecular biology.^[289]ProfessorEric Landerwas one of the principal leaders of theHuman Genome Project.^[292][293]Positroniumatoms,^[294]syntheticpenicillin,^[295]synthetic self-replicating molecules,^[296]and the genetic bases forAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis(also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) andHuntington's diseasewere first discovered at MIT.^[297]Jerome Lettvintransformed the study of cognitive science with his paper "What the frog's eye tells the frog's brain".^[298]Researchers developed a system to convert MRI scans into 3D printed physical models.^[299]

In the domain of humanities, arts, and social sciences, as of October 2019 MIT economists have been awarded sevenNobel Prizesand nineJohn Bates Clark Medals.^[289][300]LinguistsNoam ChomskyandMorris Halleauthored seminal texts ongenerative grammarandphonology.^[301][302]TheMIT Media Lab, founded in 1985 within theSchool of Architecture and Planningand known for its unconventional research,^[303][304]has been home to influential researchers such asconstructivisteducator andLogocreatorSeymour Papert.^[305]

Spanning many of the above fields,MacArthur Fellowships(the so-called "Genius Grants") have been awarded to 50 people associated with MIT.^[306]FivePulitzer Prize–winning writers currently work at or have retired from MIT.^[307]Four current or former faculty are members of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters.^[308]

Allegations ofresearch misconductor improprieties have received substantial press coverage. ProfessorDavid Baltimore, aNobel Laureate, became embroiled in a misconduct investigation starting in 1986 that led to Congressional hearings in 1991.^[309][310]ProfessorTed Postolhas accused the MIT administration since 2000 of attempting towhitewashpotential research misconduct at the Lincoln Lab facility involving aballistic missile defensetest, though a final investigation into the matter has not been completed.^[311][312]Associate ProfessorLuk Van Parijswas dismissed in 2005 following allegations of scientific misconduct and found guilty of the same by theUnited States Office of Research Integrityin 2009.^[313][314]

In 2019,Clarivate Analyticsnamed 54 members of MIT's faculty to its list of "Highly Cited Researchers". That number places MIT eighth among the world's universities.^[315]

• Oncogene–Robert Weinbergdiscovered genetic basis of humancancer.^[316]
• Reverse transcription–David Baltimoreindependently isolated, in 1970 at MIT, two RNA tumor viruses:R-MLVand againRSV.^[317]
• Thermal death time–Samuel Cate PrescottandWilliam Lyman Underwoodfrom 1895 to 1898. Done forcanningof food. Applications later found useful inmedical devices,pharmaceuticals, andcosmetics.^[318]
• Electroweak interaction–Steven Weinbergproposed the electroweak unification theory, which gave rise to the modern formulation of theStandard Model, in 1967 at MIT.^[319]

• Akamai Technologies–Daniel LewinandTom Leightondeveloped a fastercontent delivery network, now one of the world's largestdistributed computingplatforms, responsible for serving between 15 and 30 percent of all web traffic.^[320]
• Cryptography– MIT researchersRon Rivest,Adi ShamirandLeonard Adlemandeveloped one of the first practicalpublic-key cryptosystems, theRSA cryptosystem, and started a company,RSA Security.^[321]
• Digital circuits–Claude Shannon, while a master's degree student at MIT, developed the digital circuit design theory which paved the way for modern computers.^[322]
• Electronic ink– developed byJoseph JacobsonatMIT Media Lab.^[323]
• Emacs (text editor)– development began during the 1970s at theMIT AI Lab.^[324]
• Flight recorder (black box)–Charles Stark Draperdeveloped the black box atMIT's Instrumentation Laboratory. That lab later made theApollo Moon landingspossible through theApollo Guidance Computerit designed forNASA.^[325]
• GNU Project–Richard Stallmanformally founded thefree software movementin 1983 by launching theGNU Projectat MIT.^{[326][327][328]}
• Julia (programming language)– Development was started in 2009, byJeff Bezanson,Stefan Karpinski,Viral B. Shah, andAlan Edelman, all at MIT at that time, and continued with the contribution of a dedicated MIT Julia Lab^[329]
• Lisp (programming language)–John McCarthyinvented Lisp at MIT in 1958.^[330]
• Lithium-ion battery efficiencies– Yet-Ming Chiang and his group at MIT showed a substantial improvement in the performance of lithium batteries by boosting the material's conductivity bydopingit^[331]withaluminium,niobiumandzirconium.^[332][333]
• Macsyma, one of the oldest general-purpose computer algebra systems; the GPL-licensed versionMaximaremains in wide use.^[334]
• MIT OpenCourseWare– theOpenCourseWaremovement started in 1999 when theUniversity of Tübingenin Germany published videos oflecturesonline for itstimmsinitiative (Tübinger Internet Multimedia Server).^[335]The OCW movement only took off, however, with the launch of MIT OpenCourseWare and the Open Learning Initiative atCarnegie Mellon University^[336]in October 2002. The movement was soon reinforced by the launch of similar projects atYale,Utah State University, theUniversity of Michiganand theUniversity of California Berkeley.^[337]
• Perdix micro-drone– autonomous drone that usesartificial intelligenceto swarm with many other Perdix drones.^[338]
• Project MAC– groundbreaking research inoperating systems,artificial intelligence, and thetheory of computation.DARPAfunded project.^[339]
• Radar– developed at MIT'sRadiation LaboratoryduringWorld War II.^[340]
• SKETCHPAD– invented byIvan Sutherlandat MIT (presented in his PhD thesis). It pioneered the way forhuman–computer interaction(HCI).^[341]Sketchpad is considered to be the ancestor of moderncomputer-aided design(CAD) programs as well as a major breakthrough in the development ofcomputer graphicsin general.^[342]
• VisiCalc– firstspreadsheetcomputer program forpersonal computers, originally released for theApple IIbyVisiCorp. MIT alumniDan BricklinandBob Frankstonrented time sharing at night on an MIT mainframe computer (that cost $1/hr for use).^[343]
• World Wide Web Consortium– founded in 1994 byTim Berners-Lee, (W3C) is the main internationalstandards organizationfor theWorld Wide Web^[344]
• X Window System– pioneering architecture-independent system for graphical user interfaces that has been widely used forUnixandLinuxsystems.^[345]

MIT alumni and faculty have founded numerous companies, some of which are shown below:^[346][347]

• Analog Devices, 1965, co-foundersRay Stata, (SB, SM) and Matthew Lorber (SB)
• BlackRock, 1988, co-founder Bennett Golub, (SB, SM, PhD)
• Bose Corporation, 1964, founderAmar Bose(SB, PhD)
• Buzzfeed, 2006, co-founderJonah Peretti(SM)
• Dropbox, 2007, foundersDrew Houston(SB) andArash Ferdowsi(drop-out)
• Hewlett-Packard, 1939, co-founderWilliam R. Hewlett(SM)
• HuffPost,2005, co-founderJonah Peretti(SM)
• Intel, 1968, co-founderRobert Noyce(PhD)
• Khan Academy, 2008, founderSalman Khan(SB, SM)^[348]
• Koch Industries, 1940, founderFred C. Koch(SB), sonsWilliam(SB, PhD),David(SB)
• Qualcomm, 1985, co-foundersIrwin M. Jacobs(SM, PhD) andAndrew Viterbi(SB, SM)
• Raytheon, 1922, co-founderVannevar Bush(DEng, Professor)
• Renaissance Technologies, 1982, founderJames Simons(SB)
• Texas Instruments, 1930, founderCecil Howard Green(SB, SM)
• TSMC, 1987, founderMorris Chang(SB, SM)
• VMware, 1998, co-founderDiane Greene(SM)

The faculty and student body place a high value onmeritocracyand on technical proficiency.^[349][350]MIT has never awarded anhonorary degree,^[351]nor does it awardathletic scholarships,^[352]ad eundemdegrees,^{[citation needed]}orLatin honors^[353]upon graduation. However, MIT has twice awarded honorary professorships: toWinston Churchillin 1949 andSalman Rushdiein 1993.^[354]

Manyupperclassstudents and alumni wear a large, heavy, distinctiveclass ringknown as the "Brass Rat".^[355][356]Originally created in 1929, the ring's official name is the "Standard Technology Ring".^[357]The undergraduate ring design (a separate graduate student version exists as well) varies slightly from year to year to reflect the unique character of the MIT experience for that class, but always features a three-piece design, with the MIT seal and the class year each appearing on a separate face, flanking a large rectangular bezel bearing an image of abeaver.^[355]TheinitialismIHTFP, representing the informal school motto "I Hate This Fucking Place" and jocularlyeuphemizedas "I Have Truly Found Paradise", "Institute Has The Finest Professors", "Institute of Hacks, TomFoolery and Pranks", "It's Hard to Fondle Penguins", and other variations, has occasionally been featured on the ring given its historical prominence in student culture.^[358]

MIT also shares a well-knownrivalrywith theCalifornia Institute of Technology(Caltech), stemming from both institutions' reputations as two of the highest ranked and most highly recognized science and engineering schools in the world.^[359]The rivalry is an unusual college rivalry given its focus on academics and pranks instead of sports, and due to the geographic distance between the two (their campuses are separated by about 2580 miles and are onoppositecoastsof the United States). In 2005, Caltech students pranked MIT's Campus Preview Weekend by distributing t-shirts that read "MIT" on the front, and "...because not everyone can go to Caltech" on the back.^{[360][361][362]}Additionally, the word Massachusetts in the "Massachusetts Institute of Technology" engraving on the exterior of the Lobby 7 dome was covered with a banner so that it read "That Other Institute of Technology". In 2006, MIT retaliated by posing as contractors and stealing the 1.7-ton, 130-year-oldFleming cannon, a Caltech landmark. The cannon was relocated to Cambridge, where it was displayed in front of theGreen Buildingduring the 2006 Campus Preview Weekend.^[363][364]In September 2010, MIT students unsuccessfully tried to place a life-sized model of theTARDIStime machine from theDoctor Who(1963–present) television series on top of Baxter Hall at Caltech. A few months later, Caltech students collaborated to help MIT students place the TARDIS on top of their originally planned destination.^[365]The rivalry has continued, most recently in 2014, when a group of Caltech students gave out mugs sporting the MIT logo on the front and the words "The Institute of Technology" on the back. When heated, the mugs turned orange and read, "Caltech, The Hotter Institute of Technology".^[366]

MIT has over 500 recognized student activity groups,^[367]including acampus radio station,The Techstudent newspaper, an annualentrepreneurship competition, acrime club, and weekly screenings of popular films by theLecture Series Committee. Less traditional activities include the "world's largest open-shelfcollection of science fiction" in English, amodel railroad club, and a vibrantfolk dancescene. Students, faculty, and staff are involved in over 50 educational outreach and public service programs through theMIT Museum, Edgerton Center, and MIT Public Service Center.^[368]

Fraternities and sororities provide a base of activities in addition to housing. Approximately 1,000 undergrads, 48% of men and 30% of women, participate in one of several dozen Greek Life men's, women's and co-ed chapters on the campus.^[369]

TheIndependent Activities Periodis a four-week-long "term" offering hundreds of optional classes, lectures, demonstrations, and other activities throughout the month of January between the Fall and Spring semesters. Some of the most popular recurring IAP activities are Autonomous Robot Design (course 6.270), Robocraft Programming (6.370), and MasLabcompetitions,^[370]the annual"mystery hunt",^[371]andCharm School.^[372][373]More than 250 students pursueexternshipsannually at companies in the US and abroad.^[374][375]

Many MIT students also engage in "hacking", which encompasses both thephysical exploration of areasthat are generally off-limits (such as rooftops and steam tunnels), as well aselaborate practical jokes.^[376][377]Examples of high-profile hacks have included theabduction of Caltech's cannon,^[378]reconstructing aWright Flyeratop the Great Dome,^[379]and adorning theJohn Harvardstatue with theMaster Chief's Mjölnir Helmet.^[380]

MIT sponsors 31 varsity sports and has one of the three broadest NCAA Division III athletic programs.^[381][382]MIT participates in theNCAA'sDivision III, theNew England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference, theNew England Football Conference,NCAA'sDivision IPatriot Leaguefor women's crew, and theCollegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA)for Men's Water Polo. Men's crew competes outside the NCAA in theEastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC). The intercollegiate sports teams, called the MIT Engineers won 22 Team National Championships, 42 Individual National Championships. MIT is the all-time Division III leader in producingAcademic All-Americas(302) and rank second across all NCAA Divisions only behind the University of Nebraska.^[383]MIT Athletes won 13Elite 90awards and ranks first among NCAA Division III programs, and third among all divisions.^[384]In April 2009, budget cuts led to MIT eliminating eight of its 41 sports, including the mixed men's and women's teams in alpine skiing and pistol; separate teams for men and women in ice hockey and gymnastics; and men's programs in golf and wrestling.^[385][386]

Student body composition as of May 2, 2022

Race and ethnicity[387]	Total
Asian	32%	32
White	26%	26
Hispanic	16%	16
Foreign national	10%	10
Other[f]	10%	10
Black	7%	7
Economic diversity
Low-income[g]	19%	19
Affluent[h]	81%	81

MIT enrolled 4,602 undergraduates and 6,972 graduate students in 2018–2019.^[388]Undergraduate and graduate students came from all 50 US states as well as from 115 foreign countries.^[389]

MIT received 33,240 applications for admission to the undergraduate Class of 2025: it admitted 1,365 (4.1 percent).^[390]In 2019, 29,114 applications were received for graduate and advanced degree programs across all departments; 3,670 were admitted (12.6 percent) and 2,312 enrolled (63 percent).^[391]

Undergraduate tuition and fees for 2019–2020 was $53,790 for nine months. 59% of students were awarded a need-based MIT scholarship. Graduate tuition and fees for 2019–2020 was also $53,790 for nine months, and summer tuition was $17,800. Financial support for graduate students are provided in large part by individual departments. They include fellowships, traineeships, teaching and research assistantships, and loans.^[392]The annual increase in expenses had led to a student tradition (dating back to the 1960s) of tongue-in-cheek "tuition riots".^[393]

MIT has been nominallyco-educationalsince admittingEllen Swallow Richardsin 1870. Richards also became the first female member of MIT's faculty, specializing insanitary chemistry.^[394][395]Female students remained a small minority prior to the completion of the first wing of a women's dormitory,McCormick Hall, in 1963.^{[396][397][398]}Between 1993 and 2009 the proportion of women rose from 34 percent to 45 percent of undergraduates and from 20 percent to 31 percent of graduate students.^[181][399]As of 2009^[update], women outnumbered men in Biology, Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Architecture, Urban Planning, and Biological Engineering.^[181][400]

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As of 2021^[update], MIT had 1,069facultymembers.^[4]Faculty are responsible for lecturing classes, for advising both graduate and undergraduate students, and for sitting on academic committees, as well as for conducting original research. Between 1964 and 2009 a total of seventeen faculty and staff members affiliated with MIT wonNobel Prizes(thirteen of them in the latter 25 years).^[401]As of October 2020, 37 MIT faculty members, past or present, have won Nobel Prizes, the majority inEconomicsorPhysics.^[402]

As of October 2013^[update], current faculty and teaching staff included 67Guggenheim Fellows, 6Fulbright Scholars, and 22MacArthur Fellows.^[4]Faculty members who have made extraordinary contributions to their research field as well as the MIT community are granted appointments asInstitute Professorsfor the remainder of their tenures.Susan Hockfield, a molecularneurobiologist, served as MIT's president from 2004 to 2012. She was the first woman to hold the post.^[172]

MIT faculty members have often been recruited to lead other colleges and universities. Founding faculty-memberCharles W. Eliotbecame president of Harvard University in 1869, a post he would hold for 40 years, during which he wielded considerable influence both on American higher education and on secondary education. MIT alumnus and faculty memberGeorge Ellery Haleplayed a central role in the development of theCalifornia Institute of Technology(Caltech), and other faculty members have been key founders ofFranklin W. Olin College of Engineeringin nearbyNeedham, Massachusetts.

As of 2014^[update]former provostRobert A. Brownserved as president ofBoston University; former provostMark Wrightonis chancellor ofWashington University in St. Louis; former associate provostAlice Gastis president ofLehigh University; and former professorSuh Nam-pyois president ofKAIST. Former dean of the School of ScienceRobert J. Birgeneauwas the chancellor of theUniversity of California, Berkeley(2004–2013); former professorJohn Maedawas president ofRhode Island School of Design(RISD, 2008–2013); former professorDavid Baltimorewas president ofCaltech(1997–2006); and MIT alumnus and former assistant professorHans Markserved as chancellor of theUniversity of Texassystem (1984–1992).

In addition, faculty members have been recruited to lead governmental agencies; for example, former professorMarcia McNuttis president of theNational Academy of Sciences,^[403]urban studies professorXavier de Souza Briggsserved as the associate director of theWhite House Office of Management and Budget,^[404]and biology professorEric Landerwas a co-chair of thePresident's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.^[405]In 2013, faculty memberErnest Monizwas nominated by President Obama and later confirmed asUnited States Secretary of Energy.^[406][407]Former professor Hans Mark served as Secretary of the Air Force from 1979 to 1981. Alumna and Institute Professor Sheila Widnall served as Secretary of the Air Force between 1993 and 1997, making her the first female Secretary of the Air Force and first woman to lead an entire branch of the US military in the Department of Defense. A 1999 report, met by promises of change by President Charles Vest, found that senior female faculty in the School of Science were often marginalized, and in return for equal professional accomplishments received reduced "salary, space, awards, resources, and response to outside offers".^[408]

As of 2017^[update], MIT was the second-largest employer in the city of Cambridge.^[128]Based on feedback from employees, MIT was ranked No. 7 as a place to work, among US colleges and universities as of March 2013^[update].^[409]Surveys cited a "smart", "creative", "friendly" environment, noting that thework-life balancetilts towards a "strong work ethic" but complaining about "low pay" compared to an industry position.^[410]

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Many of MIT's over 120,000 alumni have achieved considerable success in scientific research, public service, education, andbusiness. As of October 2020^[update], 41 MIT alumni have won Nobel Prizes, 48 have been selected asRhodes Scholars,^[411]61 have been selected asMarshall Scholars,^[412]and 3 have been selected asMitchell Scholars.^[413]

Alumni in United States politics and public service include formerChairman of the Federal ReserveBen Bernanke, formerMA-1RepresentativeJohn Olver, formerCA-13RepresentativePete Stark, RepresentativeThomas Massie, SenatorAlex Padilla, formerNational Economic CouncilchairmanLawrence H. Summers,^[414]and formerCouncil of Economic AdviserschairmanChristina Romer. MIT alumni in international politics includeForeign Affairs Minister of IranAli Akbar Salehi,Education Minister of Nepal Sumana Shrestha,President of ColombiaVirgilio Barco Vargas,President of the European Central BankMario Draghi,^[415]former Governor of the Reserve Bank of IndiaRaghuram Rajan, formerBritish Foreign MinisterDavid Miliband, formerGreek Prime MinisterLucas Papademos, formerUN Secretary GeneralKofi Annan, formerIraqi Deputy Prime MinisterAhmed Chalabi, former Minister of Education and Culture of The Republic of IndonesiaYahya Muhaimin, former Jordanian Minister of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research and former Jordanian Minister of Energy and Mineral ResourcesKhaled Toukan. Alumni in sports have included Olympic fencing championJohan Harmenberg. MIT alumni founded or co-founded many notable companies, such asIntel,McDonnellDouglas,Texas Instruments,3Com,Qualcomm,Bose,Raytheon,Apotex,Koch Industries,Rockwell International,Genentech,Dropbox, andCampbell Soup. According to the British newspaperThe Guardian, "a survey of living MIT alumni found that they have formed 25,800 companies, employing more than three million people including about a quarter of the workforce of Silicon Valley. Those firms collectively generate global revenues of about $1.9 trillion (£1.2 trillion) a year". If the companies founded by MIT alumni were a country, they would have the 11th-highest GDP of any country in the world.^{[416][417][418]}

MIT alumni have led prominent institutions of higher education, including theUniversity of Californiasystem,Harvard University, theNew York Institute of Technology,Johns Hopkins University,Carnegie Mellon University,Tufts University,Rochester Institute of Technology,Rhode Island School of Design (RISD),UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design, theNew Jersey Institute of Technology,Northeastern University,Tel Aviv University,Lahore University of Management Sciences,Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,Tecnológico de Monterrey,Purdue University,Virginia Polytechnic Institute,KAIST, andQuaid-e-Azam University.Berklee College of Music, the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world, was founded and led by MIT alumnusLawrence Berkfor more than three decades.

More than one third of theUnited States' crewed spaceflightshave includedMIT-educated astronauts, a contribution exceeding that of any university excluding theUnited States service academies.^[419]Of the12 people who have set foot on the Moonas of 2019^[update], four graduated from MIT (among themApollo 11Lunar ModulePilotBuzz Aldrin). Alumnus and former faculty memberQian Xuesenled theChinese nuclear-weapons programand became instrumental in Chinese rocket-program.^[420]

MIT alumni played a significant role in the creation of theAtomic Energy CommissionandDepartment of Energy.Carroll Wilson(a student and professor at MIT) served as the first General Manager of the Atomic Energy Commission.John Deutchserved as Under Secretary of Energy forPresident Carter;William F. Martinserved as Deputy Secretary of Energy forRonald ReaganandErnest Monizserved as Secretary of Energy forPresident Obama. Indeed, modern post World War II history has been influenced by MIT and its alumni in the fields of nuclear energy and high energy physics.

Noted alumni in non-scientific fields include authorHugh Lofting,^[421]sculptorDaniel Chester French, guitaristTom Scholzof the bandBoston, the BritishBBCandITNcorrespondent and political advisorDavid Walter,The New York Timescolumnist and Nobel Prize-winning economistPaul Krugman,The Bell CurveauthorCharles Murray,United States Supreme Court buildingarchitectCass Gilbert,^[422]Pritzker Prize-winning architectsI.M. PeiandGordon Bunshaft.

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  Apollo 11astronaut Buzz Aldrin, ScD 1963 (MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics)
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  Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, SM 1972 (MIT Sloan School of Management)
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  President of Colombia(1986–1990) Virgilio Barco Vargas, SB1943 (MIT Civil and Environmental Engineering)
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  Former Federal Reserve Bank chairman and 2022 Nobel Laureate Ben Bernanke, PhD 1979 (MIT Department of Economics)
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  Economics Nobel laureate Esther Duflo, PhD 1999 (MIT Department of Economics), also an MIT professor ^[423]
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  Physicist and Nobel laureate Richard Feynman, SB 1939 (MIT Department of Physics) ^[424]
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  Astronaut and USAF Colonel Michael Fincke, SB 1989 (MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics), SB 1989 (MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences)
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  Sculptor Daniel Chester French, Did not graduate
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  Economics Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, PhD 1977 (MIT Department of Economics)
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  Space ShuttleChallengerastronautand physicist Ronald McNair, PhD 1976 (MIT Department of Physics)
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  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, SB 1975 (MIT Architecture), SM 1976 (MIT Sloan School of Management)
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  Architect I. M. Pei, BArch 1940 (MIT Architecture)
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  Claude Shannon, PhD 1940 (MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science)
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  CEO of General Motors Alfred P. Sloan, SB 1895 (MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science)
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  " Boston" guitarist Tom Scholz, SB 1969, SM 1970 (MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering)
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  Astronaut and engineer Mike Massimino, PhD 1992 (MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering)
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  Chemist and Nobel laureate Robert Burns Woodward, SB 1936, PhD 1937 ^[425]

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Engineering
• Whitehead Institute
• Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
• Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research
• The Coop, campus bookstore

Also see thebibliographyArchived2012-02-22 at theWayback Machinemaintained by MIT'sInstitute Archives & Special Collectionsand Written Works in MIT in popular culture.

• Official website
• Texts on Wikisource:
  • "Massachusetts Institute of Technology".Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.
  • "Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The".Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.
  • "Massachusetts Institute of Technology".The New Student's Reference Work. 1914.
  • "Massachusetts Institute of Technology".New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
  • Swain, George Fillmore(July 1900). "Technical Education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology".Popular Science Monthly. Vol. 57.