Statistics for the Year
Registration
In academic year 2002–2003, student enrollment was 10,317, compared with 10,204 in 2001–2002. There were 4,178 undergraduates (4,220 the previous year) and 6,139 graduate students (5,984 the previous year). The international student population was 2,627, representing 8 percent of the undergraduate and 37 percent of the graduate populations. These students were citizens of 108 countries. (Students with permanent residence status are included with US citizens.)
In 2002–2003, there were 3,483 women students (1,727 undergraduate and 1,756 graduate) at the Institute, compared with 3,457 (1,765 undergraduate and 1,692 graduate) in 2001–2002. In September 2002, 425 first-year women entered MIT, representing 43 percent of the freshman class of 988 students.
In 2002–2003, there were, as self-reported by students, 2,861 minority students (1,971 undergraduate and 890 graduate) at the Institute, compared with 2,834 (1,987 undergraduate and 847 graduate) in 2001–2002. Minority students included 358 African Americans (non-Hispanic), 89 Native Americans, 618 Hispanic Americans, and 1,796 Asian Americans. The first-year class entering in September 2002 included 463 minority students, representing 47 percent of the class.
Degrees Awarded
Degrees awarded by the Institute in 2002–2003 included 1,281 bachelor's degrees, 1,529 master's degrees, 8 engineer's degrees, and 440 doctoral degrees—a total of 3,258 (compared with 3,218 in 2001–2002).
Financial Aid
During the 2002–2003 academic year, 3,135 undergraduates, or 75 percent, received a total of $63,106,329 in student financial aid, exclusive of student employment and parent loans. This represents a 3.7 percent increase in total grants and student loans, which was significantly lower than the 12.5 percent experienced in 2001–2002.
Total grant assistance to undergraduates was $53,664,074, an increase of 3.2 percent from the prior year, some of which is the result of improved data collection for private sources of grant. Seventy-nine percent of this total grant assistance was from MIT sources, 10.5 percent from federal sources, and 10.5 percent from state and private sources. Endowed scholarships and current gifts funded 89.5 percent of the MIT grants; the remaining 10.5 percent came from unrestricted funds.
Undergraduate students borrowed $9,442,255, an increase of 7 percent from 2001–2002, ending a five-year trend of a decrease in annual undergraduate borrowing. Of the total loans made to undergraduates, 68 percent was from federal sources, 22 from private sources, and 10 percent from MIT. Increased reliance of undergraduates on private sources of student loans to replace expected parental contributions is a source of concern.
Graduate and professional students borrowed $25,970,009, an increase of 17.7 percent from 2001–2002. Of the total loans made to graduate and professional students, 55 percent was from private sources, primarily Citibank, 43 percent from federal sources, and 2 percent from MIT. Two years after the implementation of the Sloan CitiAssist Loan program, private sources of student loan eclipse federal sources as the primary source of student loan funding for MIT graduate and professional students.
MIT Careers Office
MIT's 2002–2003 on-campus recruiting activity remained stable despite the sluggish economy. Recruiting activity was up a modest 5 percent, to 408 employers. While they had fewer openings and had downsized their college relations programs, they maintained hiring relationships with MIT to the greatest extent possible. As they had last year, many used resumé drops and phone interviews for first-round interviews, saving campus visits for candidates who made the second round. Candidates submitted 33,847 resumes, resulting in 5,485 interviews.
Over half of 2002–2003 recruiters were from finance and consulting or from biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies. Software and high technology and engineering accounted for an additional 30 percent; manufacturing and consumer products, government, and not-for-profit organizations made up the rest.
Fifty-eight percent of the Class of 2003 (1,164) completed the online survey of graduates sponsored by the Careers Office. Of those, 56 percent (651) will begin employment, and 35 percent (403) will attend graduate school. There was a slight increase in the number of respondents who found jobs through internships.
A total of 128 MIT candidates applied to medical school, up 4 percent from last year; they included 51 undergraduates, 6 graduate students, and 71 alumni/ae. Acceptance rates were 82 percent for undergraduates, 100 percent for graduate students, and 66 percent for alumni/ae. The national acceptance rate of all applicants was 53 percent. The average GPA for accepted undergraduates was 3.70, and the average MCAS score was 32. A total of 103 MIT candidates, 25 percent of them graduating seniors, applied to law school, up from 58 last year; overall, 77 percent were admitted.
Private Support
Private support for fiscal year 2003 totaled $191 million and included $183.3 million in gifts, grants, and bequests, and $7.6 million in support through membership in the Industrial Liaison Program. The total compares with $222.9 million in fiscal 2002, $200.8 million in 2001, $233.6 million in 2000, and $209 million in 1999. Gifts-in-kind for the past year (principally gifts of equipment) were valued at $8.2 million.
By source, gifts from alumni/ae totaled $64.1 million; non-alumni friends, $8.2 million; corporations, corporate foundations, and trade associations, $46.6 million; foundations, charitable trusts, and other charitable organizations, $60 million; and others, $4.4 million.
Finances
Unrestricted revenues available for operations for fiscal year 2003 totaled $1.66 billion, and total operating expenses were $1.69 billion. Net assets decreased $0.2 billion, totaling $6.9 billion at year-end. The market value of the MIT endowment at year-end was $5.3 billion, $0.2 billion lower than the previous year.
The research revenues of departmental and interdepartmental laboratories, primarily on campus, totaled $450.1 million in fiscal year 2003, an increase of 7.4 percent from the previous year. Industrial sponsors as a group remained the largest source of sponsored funds at MIT, followed by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense. Lincoln Laboratory reported revenues of $442.3 million, an increase of 12.8 percent from last year's $392.1 million.
Facilities and Campus Environment
The evolution of the MIT campus continued over the past year with the opening of three major buildings on campus:
- In August 2002, students moved into Simmons Hall, a new 350-student undergraduate residence located across from Briggs Field. In October 2002, the building was dedicated in honor of Richard P. Simmons (Class of 1953), his late wife Dorothy, and their family, in recognition of their major support of student life and campus activities.
- The beginning of the academic year also saw the opening of a 346,000-square-foot complex at 70 Pacific Street that provides housing for approximately 750 graduate students. The building features a resource center offering computing and communications services, a fitness center, and music rooms.
- The Al and Barrie Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center, named for Albert Zesiger (Class of 1951) and Barrie R. Zesiger, includes an Olympic-class 50-meter pool, squash courts, a multi-activity court, a health fitness center, and a sports medicine training facility. The "Z Center," as it was immediately known, was dedicated in October 2002.
In addition, work continued on a number of other major projects on campus:
- The 680-space parking garage underneath the Ray and Maria Stata Center for the Computer, Information, and Intelligence Sciences opened in June 2003. Construction continues on steel erection, exterior closure, interior fit-out, site work, and landscaping. Completion of the building is scheduled for the spring of the next academic year.
- The complete renovation of the Dreyfus Building (Building 18) for the Department of Chemistry, which includes wet labs, offices, exterior façade repair, and window replacement, neared completion; the final phase was expected to be completed in July 2003.
- Four floors of 500 Technology Square were renovated to provide laboratory and office space for the new Institute for Soldier Nanotachnologies.
- 20,000 square feet of space on the fifth floor and part of the third floor of Building E19 was renovated for the Picower Center for Learning and Memory and the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, providing temporary quarters for researchers until the brain and cognitive sciences project is completed.
- In April 2003, construction began on the brain and cognitive sciences project, located on a site bounded by Main Street, Albany Street, and Vassar Street. The project will provide state-of-the-art facilities for the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and the Picower Center for Learning and Memory. Completion is scheduled for fall 2005.
- The redevelopment of Vassar Street east of Massachusetts Avenue is well underway. The streetscape will ultimately include trees, wider sidewalks, bicycle lanes, parallel parking, and contemporary lighting. The project should be complete in November 2003.
Projects in the planning or design stages include the East Campus project for management and economics, and a major addition to the Media Laboratory facilities.
The Design and Construction Services group within the Department of Facilities completed work on approximately 75 large- and small-scale space changes, as well as numerous small interior design projects and a number of accessibility projects across campus. Highlights included the installation of a new café in Lobby 7, landscaping and the introduction of access control gates at the entrance to the Main Group off Vassar Street, the construction of a new accessible entry to 77 Massachusetts Avenue, and renovation of the Vannevar Bush Room in Building 10.
The Department of Facilities reconvened its Facility Protection Team to supplement the Institute-wide security activities that are underway. The team focused on aspects of protection and security that are under the department's purview and determined how the Institute and Facilities could withstand and recover from the impact of major threats to the campus.