Overview
A microscope can’t discover the cure for cancer on its own. Without the collective talents of dedicated researchers, biomass will never be a viable source for fuel. Without students, the Infinite Corridor is just a hallway.
The genius of MIT depends on the unique expressions of students’ talents and personalities - the human factors. MIT students’ achievements result from and depend upon the connections between their academic and extracurricular passions. Theater production teaches a planetary scientist collaboration. Reading a musical score gives a neuroscientist insight into a neural process. Playing in a jazz group nurtures the creativity that turns an engineer into an inventor.
MIT students’ commitment to expand their knowledge - both inside and outside the classroom - is matched only by an equally impressive ability to integrate their passion for academics and myriad other pursuits.
The education, work, research, and multitude of passions MIT students pursue depend on the support of the Institute’s closest friends. The Campaign for Students focuses that support where it will have a direct impact on MIT students - the funding of scholarships, fellowships, education, and student life.
Scholarships
MIT is a true meritocracy. For four decades, the Institute has admitted students without regard to their families’ financial circumstances and awarded financial aid to them solely on the basis of need. This gives individuals from very modest backgrounds access to MIT, while ensuring the Institute is affordable to those of greater means who nonetheless need financial assistance. As the cost of an MIT education nears $50,000 a year, the role of financial aid in ensuring both access and affordability is increasingly critical.
Fellowships
Graduate students make up 60 percent of MIT’s student population. They play a vital role in advancing research at the Institute by continually pushing the boundaries of discovery, and experimenting with new techniques and technologies. Graduate students contribute to the Institute’s strength through their research, teaching, and collaboration with faculty. More and more, these students rely on support from fellowships.
Education
MIT provides an undergraduate education at the forefront of technical knowledge. The Institute is committed to ensuring that this education remains focused on addressing and solving the world’s most intractable problems, while upholding the most rigorous academic standards.
Student life
An MIT education is about more than what’s taught in the classroom; it’s about learning by doing. MIT’s student life programs provide these crucial learning experiences, and help prepare the Institute’s students for service to society.
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