University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

Verified · last verified 2026-09-02

University details

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is an independent, privately endowed, coeducational research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was incorporated in 1861, and its campus is centered at 77 Massachusetts Avenue along the Charles River. MIT is organized into five academic Schools—Architecture and Planning; Engineering; Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; Management (the MIT Sloan School of Management); and Science—together with the Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing. As of October 30, 2025, MIT reported an enrollment of 11,816 students, comprising 4,561 undergraduate and 7,255 graduate students.

Institution type: Private, nonprofit
Campus setting: Urban
Application platforms: Direct application
Testing policy: Test required (2025–2026)
In-state tuition: $62,396
Out-of-state tuition: $62,396
Cost of attendance: Not available (2024–2025)
Undergraduate enrollment: 4,535

Website Admissions Financial aid

Common Data Set

Institution-reported facts by reporting cycle. Missing and withheld values are shown explicitly.

2025–2026 · most recent available

First-year admission rate

4.6%

Calculated from applications and admissions reported in CDS C1. This is a factual calculation, not a CollegePath rating.

Enrollment

Undergraduate enrollment (B1): 4,561 students
Full-time undergraduate enrollment (B1): 4,525 students
Part-time undergraduate enrollment (B1): 36 students

First-year admission

Majors

Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering
Engineering
Anthropology
Social Sciences
Applied Mathematics
Mathematics and Statistics
Architecture
Architecture and Related Services
Biology, General
Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology
Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Biomedical/Medical Engineering
Engineering
Business/Commerce, General
Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services
Chemical Engineering
Engineering

Deadlines

Early action · 2026–2027
2026-11-01 — MIT first-year Early Action deadline.
https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/deadlines-requirements/
Regular decision · 2026–2027
2027-01-04 — MIT first-year Regular Action deadline.
https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/deadlines-requirements/

View deadlines from earlier years

2025–2026

Early action · 2025–2026
2025-11-01 — First-year Early Action application deadline (non-binding).
https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/deadlines-requirements/

Supplemental essays

How many responses?

8 short responses

Four 100–200-word essays and four 40–50-word responses.

2026–2027

Required · First-year applicants
How did you manage a situation or challenge that you didn’t expect? What did you learn from it?
Limit: 200 words — MIT short answer essay.
https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/essays-activities-academics/
Required · First-year applicants
What do you do just for fun?
Limit: 50 words — MIT short response.
https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/essays-activities-academics/
Required · First-year applicants
What field of study appeals to you the most right now? (Applicants select from a drop-down list.) Reflect on what has led you to this interest.

Application requirements

2026–2027

Application fee · Required
Value: $75
MIT first-year application fee.
https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/deadlines-requirements/
Fee waiver · Optional
Value: Available
MIT permits an application fee waiver upon request for applicants who cannot afford the fee.
https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/deadlines-requirements/
Personal essay · Required
MIT first-year application includes required essays and short-answer responses.
https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/deadlines-requirements/
Supplemental essays · Required

Sources

Direct sources supporting this university’s facts, with retrieval dates.

Official source · supports supplemental_essays:2026–2027
https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/essays-activities-academics/
Retrieved 2026-09-03 — Official MIT 2026–27 essay questions.
Official source · supports deadlines:2026–2027
https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/deadlines-requirements/
Retrieved 2026-09-02 — Official MIT first-year deadlines and application component checklist.
Official source · supports requirements:2026–2027
https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/deadlines-requirements/
Retrieved 2026-09-02 — Official MIT fee, waiver, and writing requirements.
Official source · supports financial_aid_url
https://sfs.mit.edu/undergraduate-students/apply-for-aid/deadlines/

First-year applications (C1)

First-year students admitted (C1)

1,334 students

First-year students enrolled (C1)

1,152 students

High-school GPA distribution · GPA 4.0 (C11)

Not reported by institution

High-school GPA distribution · GPA 3.75-3.99 (C11)

Not reported by institution

High-school GPA distribution · GPA 3.50-3.74 (C11)

Not reported by institution

High-school GPA distribution · GPA 3.25-3.49 (C11)

Not reported by institution

High-school GPA distribution · GPA 3.00-3.24 (C11)

Not reported by institution

High-school GPA distribution · GPA 2.50-2.99 (C11)

Not reported by institution

High-school GPA distribution · GPA 2.00-2.49 (C11)

Not reported by institution

High-school GPA distribution · GPA 1.00-1.99 (C11)

Not reported by institution

High-school GPA distribution · GPA below 1.0 (C11)

Not reported by institution

Average high-school GPA (C12)

Not reported by institution

Testing

Enrolled students submitting scores · SAT (C9): 83%
Enrolled students submitting scores · ACT (C9): 31%
SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing · 25th percentile (C9): 740 score
SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing · 75th percentile (C9): 780 score
SAT Math · 25th percentile (C9): 780 score
SAT Math · 75th percentile (C9): 800 score
ACT Composite · 25th percentile (C9): 34 score
ACT Composite · 75th percentile (C9): 35 score

Cost

Tuition (G1): $66,720
Required fees (G1): $420
Housing and food (G1): $22,194

Retention and graduation

First-year retention rate · Fall 2024 entering cohort retained in Fall 2025 (B22): 99%
Graduation rate · Six-year graduation rate, Fall 2019 cohort (B27): 96%

Academics and class size

Student-to-faculty ratio (I2): 8:1

Source: MIT Common Data Set 2025-26 · Retrieved 2026-08-29

Open the official institutional source

Document ID: url:https://ir.mit.edu/projects/2025-26-common-data-set/ · Import: cds-2026-08-v2

Chemistry

Physical Sciences

City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning

Architecture and Related Services

Civil Engineering

Engineering

Cognitive Science

Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies

Communication and Media Studies

Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs

Computer and Information Sciences, General

Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services

Computer Science

Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services

Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft

Visual and Performing Arts

Economics

Social Sciences

Economics and Computer Science

Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies

Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering

Engineering

English Language and Literature, General

English Language and Literature/Letters

Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering

Engineering

Finance and Financial Management Services

Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services

Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences

Physical Sciences

Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities

Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services

Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics

Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods

Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services

Materials Engineering

Engineering

Mathematics

Mathematics and Statistics

Mathematics and Computer Science

Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies

Mechanical Engineering

Engineering

Music

Visual and Performing Arts

Neurobiology and Neurosciences

Biological and Biomedical Sciences

Nuclear Engineering

Engineering

Philosophy

Philosophy and Religious Studies

Physics

Physical Sciences

Political Science and Government

Social Sciences

Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies

English Language and Literature/Letters

Science, Technology and Society

Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies

Financial aid · 2025–2026

2025-11-30 — Financial aid application materials deadline for Early Action applicants. Additional financial_aid date(s) for this cycle: 2026-02-15 (Financial aid application materials deadline for Regular Action applicants.).

https://sfs.mit.edu/undergraduate-students/apply-for-aid/deadlines/

Regular decision · 2025–2026

2026-01-04 — MIT terms its regular round 'Regular Action'.

https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/deadlines-requirements/

Limit: 200 words — MIT short answer essay.

Required · First-year applicants

While some reach their goals following well-trodden paths, others blaze their own trails achieving the unexpected. In what ways have you done something different than what was expected in your educational journey?

Limit: 200 words — MIT short answer essay.

https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/essays-activities-academics/

Required · First-year applicants

How have your personal and academic experiences influenced the types of problems you would want to tackle with an MIT education and the impact you aim to make on your community?

Limit: 200 words — MIT short answer essay.

https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/essays-activities-academics/

Required · First-year applicants

Who is someone you admire, whether you know them personally or look up to them from afar? Tell us why.

Limit: 50 words — MIT short response.

https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/essays-activities-academics/

Required · First-year applicants

What’s a topic, academic or non-academic, that you could talk about for hours?

Limit: 50 words — MIT short response.

https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/essays-activities-academics/

Required · First-year applicants

MIT values both “generalists” with varied interests and “specialists” who focus deeply on one or a few passions. Which do you think best describes you, and why?

Limit: 50 words — MIT short response.

https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/essays-activities-academics/

Value: 8 short responses

Four 100–200-word essays and four 40–50-word responses.

2025–2026

Application fee · Required
Value: $75
Payable online by credit card when the application is submitted; waived with an approved fee waiver.
https://mitadmissions.org/help/faq/how-much-is-the-application-fee/
Fee waiver · Optional
Available to both domestic and international applicants; requested in the Fee Waiver Request section of the application. MIT accepts waivers from sources such as the College Board, ACT, and NACAC, or a letter from a school official.
https://mitadmissions.org/help/faq/how-much-is-the-application-fee/
Teacher evaluations · Required
Value: 2
Two letters of recommendation—one from a math or science teacher and one from a humanities, social science, or language teacher.
https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/deadlines-requirements/
Supplemental essays · Required
The MIT application consists of several short-response and essay questions in place of one long personal essay.
https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/essays-activities-academics/
Secondary school report · Required
Secondary School Report (SSR), including the high school transcript, submitted by the school counselor.
https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/deadlines-requirements/
English proficiency · Recommended
Recommended for applicants who have used English for fewer than five years or do not speak it at home and school; TOEFL, IELTS, Cambridge English, Pearson PTE Academic, or Duolingo English Test accepted. Not required.
https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/tests-scores/
CSS Profile · Required
Required of all applicants seeking need-based financial aid (domestic and international).
https://sfs.mit.edu/undergraduate-students/apply-for-aid/deadlines/
FAFSA · Required
Required of domestic financial-aid applicants; international applicants do not file the FAFSA.
https://sfs.mit.edu/undergraduate-students/apply-for-aid/deadlines/

Retrieved 2026-07-21

Official source · supports application_platforms

https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/deadlines-requirements/

Retrieved 2026-07-21

Official source · supports testing_policy

https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/tests-scores/

Retrieved 2026-07-21

Official source · supports deadlines

https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/deadlines-requirements/

Retrieved 2026-07-21

Official source · supports deadlines

https://sfs.mit.edu/undergraduate-students/apply-for-aid/deadlines/

Retrieved 2026-07-21