Skip to content

Contents
Search

Graduate Education

For more than a century, MIT graduate programs have provided ideal environments for advanced study by students and faculty working together to extend the boundaries of knowledge.

Traditionally a leader in engineering graduate education, MIT has also attained national prominence for its doctoral programs in mathematics and the physical and life sciences. Top-ranked graduate programs in economics; political science; linguistics; science, technology, and society; architecture; urban studies; and management have broadened the spectrum of graduate education at MIT.

Graduate students may pursue any of the following degrees: doctor of philosophy (PhD), doctor of science (ScD), engineer, master of science (SM), master of engineering (MEng), master of architecture (MArch), master in city planning (MCP), master of business administration (MBA), and master of finance (MFin).

Cross-registration opportunities at Harvard and Wellesley, joint degree programs with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies are significant resources for graduate students. Other study opportunities are also available at Brandeis, Tufts, and Boston University.

The Institute has a single faculty that is responsible for both undergraduate and graduate instruction. Each department exercises a large measure of autonomy for its graduate programs, under general guidelines established for the Institute as a whole. The administration of graduate education rests with the president and the provost, the chancellor, the dean and senior associate dean for graduate education, and the Committee on Graduate Programs, a standing committee of the faculty.

Office of the Dean for Graduate Education

The Office of the Dean for Graduate Education advocates broadly for graduate education and student life at MIT. The office comprises the Office of the Dean, the International Students Office, and the Graduate Student Council. ODGE develops and administers policies and procedures in conjunction with the faculty Committee on Graduate Programs; creates and sustains programs to enhance graduate community and diversity; and complements the efforts of academic departments, including providing central funding for graduate studies.

Some Grad Facts

  • The admissions process for graduate programs at MIT is decentralized. Applicants apply directly to the academic department or degree-granting program of interest.
  • Doctoral students are supported with fellowships (28 percent), research assistantships (48 percent), and teaching assistantships (13 percent). Twelve percent receive some other form of support or no support.
  • There is no cap on the number of graduate students admitted to MIT. Departments admit as many as they can support based on their research assistantship, teaching assistantship, and fellowship resources, as well as the number of faculty available to advise on research.
  • Graduate students first outnumbered undergraduates in 1980. Today, graduate students make up 60 percent of the total student population.
  • There were 6,146 graduate students enrolled at MIT in the fall term of 2008. Thirty-eight percent were international students. Thirty-seven percent were housed on campus, approaching the Institute's goal of 50 percent.
  • Persons interested in taking graduate courses may apply for special student status. A special graduate student is one whose intended program of study is essentially graduate in nature, but who is not a candidate for an advanced degree.
  • Twenty-two percent of students who complete a master of science degree at MIT choose to continue graduate study, while 67 percent enter the workforce. For master of engineering recipients, the numbers are nine percent and 87 percent, respectively; and for MBA graduates, one percent and 89 percent. At the doctoral level, 47 percent of MIT's PhD graduates go on to industry or government positions, while eight percent accept academic positions and 37 percent pursue postdoctoral research.