I am not going to tell you whether your child should apply to MIT. That is not my place, nor is it the purpose of this page. What I can do is calmly and plainly show you what official United States government data says about this university: who gets in, how much it costs, how likely students are to graduate there, and what questions you still need to ask yourself, in writing, before making a decision. The data is the foundation. What you do with it, together with what your child wants and what your family can afford, is what builds the plan.
Let’s take it one piece at a time.
What Kind of University Is MIT?
Let’s start with the basics, because these labels sound bureaucratic but actually tell you a lot.
The government classifies universities according to what they do, and it places MIT among the doctoral universities with the highest level of research activity in the country. It is a private, nonprofit school offering programs of four years or more, and a doctoral degree is the highest level of study it reports offering. Its undergraduate profile also places it within the most selective admissions group recognized by this classification.
Here is one fact worth keeping in mind from the outset: in the most recent snapshot of this type of classification, based on the 2019-20 academic year, at least half of MIT’s full-time-equivalent enrollment consisted of graduate students, not undergraduate students. This does not tell you how the school treats an undergraduate student today, but it does alert you to something important: MIT is not only an undergraduate institution. It is also a vast center for graduate study. That combination is part of its identity.
And where is it? In Cambridge, Massachusetts, in Middlesex County, within the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metropolitan area. That tells you the area, not how to get there or how long the actual trip takes. If your child plans to live at home rather than on campus, the recommendation is simple and very practical: drive the route yourself on a weekday at the time your child would have class. The actual travel time is almost never what the map says.
One more note about identity, and this one is interesting: in the official 2023 file, MIT is designated a Land Grant Institution, a historical designation shared by only 80 of the 3,012 institutions in this census. It is an institutional label, not a promise of support or a description of what your child’s experience there will be like. Do not read it as a verdict on anything. Ask about actual support by name: what student center exists, which scholarship applies, and who answers the phone in April.
Its Actual Size: A Large School, but with More Graduate Than Undergraduate Students
MIT reported 11,920 enrolled students in the official fall count. It is a large school, within the government’s size category of 10,000 to 19,999 students. Compared with the 941 selective private schools in this census, it is among the largest: no more than one in ten has more students.
But here is the number that truly matters if your child is entering an undergraduate program: of those 11,920, only 4,576 are undergraduates. The other 7,344 are graduate students. At this school, graduate enrollment outweighs undergraduate enrollment. If you see the large number and think, “What an enormous university for my child,” pause: the number that matters to your child is 4,576, not the total.
Within that undergraduate population, the composition looks like this: 15 out of every 100 students were reported as Hispanic or Latino in the fall of 2023. That is not a majority, but it is not uncommon either—it is above the midpoint among the 941 selective private schools in this group that report the data. The undergraduate population is nearly evenly divided between men and women: 49 out of every 100 are women. And there are almost no adult students: only 1 out of every 100 is between 25 and 64 years old.
One fact often surprises families: fewer than 25 out of every 100 first-time students were permanent residents of Massachusetts. The figure was only 8 out of every 100. The rest come from other states or other countries, or their residency was not clearly reported. This does not measure distance or travel costs, but it does tell you something real: if your child enrolls here, your child will most likely share classrooms, dorms, and dining halls with peers who came from far away too.
How Students Study There: The Calendar, Credits, and the Weight of Engineering
MIT follows a 4-1-4 calendar: four courses over four months, then one month with a single course, followed by another four courses over the next four months. It is not the traditional semester schedule we are accustomed to, and your child should understand that pace before arriving.
As for credits, the school reported that it accepts credit from AP exams and accepts credit for military training. It did not indicate that it grants credit for life experience. And here is a warning that applies to any university, not just this one: saying that they “accept AP” does not mean they will grant credit for every exam your child brings. It does not say what score they require or whether those credits will count toward your child’s specific program. Request the transfer-credit evaluation in writing before enrolling. Do not budget for the savings until you have it in hand.
MIT also does not enroll high school students in college courses for credit, so if your child hoped to complete courses early in that way, this is not the route.
As for what students study: in one year, MIT awarded 1,146 bachelor’s degrees across 16 program families. By far the largest family was engineering: 403 of those 1,146 degrees, or 35 out of every 100. That places MIT in the highest quarter of schools of this type by total number of degrees awarded annually. It is a school with a strong engineering identity, although a large number of degrees tells you nothing about what your child will specifically experience within a program: this counts credentials, not people.
And here is one of the most striking facts in the entire profile, in my view: MIT reports a ratio of only 3 full-time-equivalent students for each full-time-equivalent faculty member. It is among the lowest ratios across the 941 comparable schools, placing it in the lowest quarter of that group. It sounds spectacular, and as an aggregate figure, it is. But a low ratio does not guarantee small classes: the number compares students with instructional staff as a whole; it does not count seats in an actual classroom. Ask directly how many students are in the first-year classes your child would take.
MIT also reports structured opportunities such as study abroad and certain pathways related to teacher certification. It is worth asking the school how these work in practice for the program that interests your child.
Getting into MIT: What They Require and What the 5% Really Means
This is where many families feel a knot in their stomach, so let’s look at the exact figures.
MIT does not have open admissions. Of the nine admissions considerations reviewed in this count, it marked three as required: the high school record, the personal essay, and letters of recommendation. It also considers, though it does not require, grade point average, class rank, the academic program completed, work experience, and an English proficiency exam when applicable. The published application fee is $75.
In other words, gathering documents is not enough here. Your child has to write, and that essay matters. My recommendation, which I have emphasized to families for years, is to start it in the summer, not during the week of the deadline. The first draft is never the one that gets submitted.
Now for the figure everyone asks about first: in the 2023 admissions cycle, MIT received 26,904 first-time applications and offered admission to 1,274 applicants. That is 5 out of every 100. On the other side of that calculation are 25,630 applicants who did not receive an offer. Compared with the 942 selective private schools in this census, MIT is among those that admit the smallest share: nine out of ten schools in that group, or more, admit a higher percentage of their applicants.
I want to be very clear about this: a low percentage does not mean the school is better, and it says nothing about your child’s worth. It measures how many offers were made relative to how many people applied. What I do strongly recommend is that your child’s college list include schools on both sides: some as selective as this one and others that admit most of their applicants.
Now for a surprising fact: out of every 100 applicants admitted in 2023, 86 ultimately enrolled. It is one of the highest proportions among comparable schools—at fewer than one in ten schools in that group does a larger share of admitted applicants enroll. This is not praise for the school, nor does it measure how difficult it was to receive the letter. It only counts what other families decided to do after receiving it. If your child gets a yes, ask that same day when the deposit is due and whether the deadline can be extended while you wait for other decisions. The fact that 86 out of every 100 enrolled quickly does not mean your child should sign in haste.
As for tests, the SAT or ACT is required here, not optional. Of the first-time students who enrolled, 83 out of every 100 submitted an SAT score, placing MIT in the highest quarter among 653 comparable universities for this practice. Among those who submitted scores, the middle half scored between 730 and 780 in reading and writing and between 780 and 800 in mathematics. If your child’s scores are below those numbers, that does not mean automatic exclusion—those ranges describe students who enrolled and submitted scores, not all applicants, and the lower number is not an official minimum. But it is information to examine well in advance, not during the week before applying.
As for transfers, in the fall of 2023, MIT reported only 18 undergraduate students who arrived there after previously studying at another university. That is a low count compared with similar schools. The transfer-out rate—the number of students who enter as first-time students and eventually leave for another school—is not reported here. That does not prove that no one transfers; the figure simply is not in this file.
The Sticker Price: Nearly $83 Thousand a Year, and Why That Is Not What You Will Pay
At Massachusetts Institute of Technology, among 28 full-time, first-time credential-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid and whose EFC records showed family income below $30,000, the official average net price was negative: average grant and scholarship aid exceeded the average cost of attendance by $4,129. For dependent students, this income band combines their parents’ income with their own.
That negative average does not mean that every student paid a negative amount, nor does it show that each student received a refund. It means only that, for that group and academic year, average grant and scholarship aid exceeded the average cost of attendance.
None of these figures is a price quote for your child. The income bands in this profile describe full-time, first-time credential-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid; at public institutions, they use the in-state or in-district rate. The overall average for students with aid, when shown, describes full-time, first-time credential-seeking students who received federal, state, local, or institutional grants or scholarships. The figure that matters is the financial aid letter you receive. In the meantime, use the net price calculator on the school’s website.
How Families Pay in Practice: Scholarships, Pell, and Loans
Aid that does not have to be repaid—grants and scholarships—reached 64 out of every 100 degree-seeking students at MIT. That is more than half, but not everyone. Compared with similar schools, this proportion falls within the quarter where aid reaches fewer students. Among those who did receive it, the annual average was $55,629.
The federal Pell Grant, intended for families with demonstrated financial need, reached only 19 out of every 100 students. That means at least 45 out of every 100 received aid that did not come from Pell but from another source—probably MIT’s own institutional aid.
$55,629 is real money, but it is not a price. What determines how much your family will pay is the amount left after all aid, and that amount is not found in any overall average: it must be requested school by school, family by family.
As for loans, in the 2022-23 academic year, only 7 out of every 100 MIT undergraduate students had a federal student loan—very few compared with almost any other selective school in this census. Among those who did borrow, each borrowed an average of $6,091 that year. This figure does not include Parent PLUS loans signed by parents, bank debt, or credit cards, nor is it the accumulated debt with which a student leaves upon graduation—that would require adding several years together, and that information is not in this report.
The fact that a student appears in this count does not mean that the loan was enough to cover the year. It only means the student borrowed money; it does not say how the rest was covered. And the fact that most MIT students did not use a federal loan does not tell you how the others managed: it could have been through grants, work, family savings, or another type of debt not captured by this report.
MIT also reports offering a tuition installment payment plan if your family prefers to manage the cost that way.
Life Outside the Classroom: Housing, ROTC, Athletics, and Support
MIT does have institution-controlled housing, and it reported that not all full-time, first-time students are required to live there—which does not mean that no individual program has such a requirement. It also offers meal plans, although the number of meals per week varies depending on the selected plan. The reported maximum housing capacity is 7,610 students. The existence of housing does not guarantee that a bed will be available for your child: request the annual rate, the housing application deadline, and whether a place is guaranteed or your child will be placed on a waiting list, all in writing.
As for ROTC, MIT indicated that the opportunity is available and, unusually, marked all three branches—Army, Navy, and Air Force, along with the Marine Corps option within Navy. Only 135 of the 3,012 institutions in this guide mark all three. But the designation does not confirm that the program is conducted on this specific campus, nor does it confirm available spaces or scholarships. Ask about each pathway by name before building a plan around it.
MIT competes in intercollegiate athletics and is affiliated with the NCAA. This information does not identify which specific sports are active today, the division in which each competes, or whether athletic scholarships are offered—ask the coach of the sport that interests your child directly.
As for distance learning, MIT offers distance education, but not at the undergraduate level. The very level at which your child would enroll is excluded. In the fall count, 0 out of every 100 undergraduate students took all their classes online. If your child needs scheduling flexibility, do not count on this option here.
The library operates with paid staff, and its annual expenditures exceed the $100,000 threshold that the government records as a benchmark. It has physical and digital collections and participates in interlibrary lending. That confirms the existence of a functional library with resources—it does not tell you whether it has the specific databases your child’s program will require. Ask by program name.
Finally, MIT reports several support services: combined academic and career counseling, employment services for students, placement services after program completion, on-campus child care, participation in the Yellow Ribbon program for veterans, a dedicated point of contact for service members and their families, a student veterans’ organization, and a disability services webpage. The fact that these services are reported confirms that they exist as institutional offerings; it does not measure their quality or effectiveness for a particular student.
What If Your Child Gets In? What Happens After Enrollment
Here are, in my opinion, some of the most candid figures in this entire profile.
Of the cohort that entered in the fall of 2022—1,136 full-time, first-time bachelor’s-degree-seeking students—1,125 met the official retention criterion: 99 out of every 100 were still enrolled or had already completed their degree one year later. That is among the highest proportions across comparable selective private schools. A figure this high is not a final graduation rate; it combines those still enrolled with those who had already earned their degree, without distinguishing which applied to each person.
As for graduation, out of every 100 students who entered a bachelor’s degree program in 2017, 96 graduated within six years—1,055 out of 1,098. Within the four-year period, the figure falls to 82 out of every 100, a difference of 14 points between the two periods. Compared with similar schools, MIT is among those that graduate the largest share of students.
At eight years, looking at the cohort that entered between July of 2015 and June of 2016, 97 out of every 100 had earned a degree or certificate from MIT. For Pell Grant recipients specifically, the figure was 95 out of every 100—only a difference of 2 points, although that does not mean the path was equally easy for both groups.
These figures are extraordinary as aggregate data, and I want to tell you that as clearly as I told you about the difficult ones: a high percentage does not promise anything about your child in particular. It describes what happened to a specific cohort at a specific time. What is in your hands—and this does depend on you—is making sure your child enters with all credits in order and knows, from the first semester, who the academic advisor is and when registration opens for courses in the program.
What Is Up to You, What Is up to Your Child, and What Is up to MIT
MIT decides whom to admit, how much aid to offer, and which services to make available. That is the full extent of the university’s responsibility, and the numbers on this page are its official, government-reported way of showing it.
Your child’s responsibility is to write the essay, maintain a strong grade point average, explore whether this school truly fits what your child wants to study, and—if admitted—show up on the first day knowing who the academic advisor is.
Your responsibility is something else, just as important: understand your family’s actual finances, complete the FAFSA on time, request the financial aid letter in writing before comparing anything, and verify every credit equivalency, every housing rule, and every ROTC or athletic program by its exact name. This is not about living your child’s life for them. It is about ensuring that your child does not bear alone the burden of navigating a system they are only beginning to understand.
You now know in detail one of the pieces you need to make a decision about MIT: who gets in, what the sticker price is, how much that cost can decrease with actual aid, and what happens after a student succeeds in enrolling. Combine it with what your child wants to study, what your child has accomplished so far, and what your family can and is willing to pay. The plan emerges from that combination, not from any single number.
Source note: The information in this article comes from IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) and reports from the United States Department of Education, primarily covering the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years. Best College Aid does not represent Massachusetts Institute of Technology or any government agency; this article organizes and explains public data to help you understand it.