Undergraduate expenses
Graduate student expenses
How will I finance my family’s share?
Is my family eligible for tax benefits?
HOW MUCH WILL I HAVE TO PAY?
It’s important to know that MIT always meets the full financial need of its students. We won’t ask you or your family to pay more than you can reasonably be expected to afford. Once you factor in financial aid and outside awards, your net bill from MIT will most likely be a lot lower than the full price, which you can estimate by using the student budget worksheet.
When you apply for financial aid from MIT as an undergraduate, we look at financial information you and your family submit, and we use a formula called the 568 Consensus Approach Methodology to calculate how much you and your family can afford to contribute toward the student expense budget. This amount is called the expected family contribution or EFC. The EFC has two parts: the parent contribution and the student contribution.
| Student expense budget | ||
– |
Expected family contribution ---------------------------------------------- |
(parent contribution + student contribution) |
= |
Financial aid package | (your financial need) |
Parent contribution – This can be from any combination of sources, including savings and cash on hand, prepaid college plans, investments, current income and parent loans.
Student contribution – This is usually the same as your summer earnings expectation, unless you have significant savings of your own, or high earnings during the previous tax year. The summer earnings expectations are $1,500 for freshmen, $2,200 for sophomores, $2,500 for juniors and $2,800 for seniors.
FinAid.org has an online calculator to help you gauge your EFC. Under the “Need Analysis Methodology” option, select “Institutional Methodology.” However, be aware that this will provide only a rough estimate; you are not guaranteed that MIT’s calculation of your EFC will match the figure produced by this calculator.
Now you know how much you and your family will need to contribute, but if that figure is less than the full price, your financial aid package will make up the difference.
| Self-help | |
+ |
Outside scholarships and grants |
+ |
MIT scholarship ----------------------------------------------- |
= |
Financial aid package (click here for examples) |
Self-help – We meet the first $5,250 of your need through a student loan/work offer called self-help. You may specify how to allocate student loans and work amounts to reach the $5,250 total, including 100% loans or 100% work.
Outside scholarships and grants – If you receive any scholarships, grants or benefits from public or private sources not administered by MIT (for example, the Federal Pell Grant Program or the National Merit or Achievement Program), we use it to offset your self-help component, so you end up with a higher percentage of scholarship in your financial aid package. If all your outside awards add up to more than $5,250, we’ll try to reduce your student contribution. There are thousands of scholarship funds administered by corporations, foundations and other organizations. Some scholarships are earmarked for students with specific backgrounds or interests.
MIT scholarship – If you still don’t have enough resources to meet the student expense budget, we’ll award you an MIT scholarship (a grant that doesn’t need to be repaid) to make up the difference.
If you’re ready to apply for financial aid from MIT, click here.
Now that you know your family’s share, the next question is: What are your payment and financing options?
Class of ’10
Adi is one of thousands of students who are paying much less than MIT's “sticker price” – because we meet every student's full financial need.
{ LEARN MORE}There are hundreds of outside private scholarships for every type of student.
