Incoming Students
Onboarding
Departments will notify incoming students once they are eligible to create an MIT Kerberos email account. Further instructions about creating an account can be found here.
The Office of Graduate Education Admissions contains access to medical forms, as well as housing, financial and international student information which you will be able to access with your Kerberos. As you begin your planning, you’ll find it useful to have your MIT ID number listed above. More information can be found under “Setting up & preparing for campus life” here.
Writing Ability Requirement and English Evaluation Test
All students must successfully fulfill the MechE Department’s writing ability requirement. In addition, MIT requires that all graduate students for whom English has not been the language of instruction in both elementary and secondary school take an English Evaluation Test.
Tuition and Fees
An overview of tuition and fees can be found at the MIT Registrar’s Office. Please note, the Student Life Fee is made personally by students unless a received fellowship provides coverage.
For more detailed information regarding the cost of attendance, including specific costs for tuition and fees, books and supplies, housing and food as well as transportation, please visit the SFS website.
Additional assistance regarding graduate financial aid can be found through Student Financial Services.
Compensation and Cost of Living
MIT wants to give applicants a realistic assessment of the costs associated with a graduate education. Living costs in the Cambridge and Greater Boston area are among the highest in the United States. The Institute cannot assume financial responsibility for its students beyond any funding offered at the time of admission, or during a student’s time at MIT.
Many graduate students are eligible to receive one or more forms of financial assistance in the course of their degree programs. These may include appointments to the research or teaching staffs, employment as a resident tutor in an undergraduate residence, loans, or selection as a recipient of one of various internally funded competitive fellowships. More information on funding types can be found here.
The annual 12-month stipend rates can be found here, and are updated when announced for the next academic year.
Examples of estimated expenses that graduate students can expect when attending MIT can be found here.
More detailed information on the cost of living in the Cambridge and Greater Boston area can be explored on websites such as the MIT Living Wage calculator or the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator. When estimating your budget, please remember to include the impact of taxes. Federal and state taxes will differ for each individual, but can total as much as 14–30% of a student’s stipend or salary.
MIT Housing & Residential Services is hosting a series of webinars about on-campus housing at the Institute. These webinars include a brief overview of the graduate housing system, the housing application process, and a live Q&A with webinar attendees.
Definitions
Teaching Assistantship (TA): The principal duties of a teaching assistant include, but are not limited to, assisting faculty members in classroom and laboratory instruction, preparing apparatus or material for demonstration, conducting tutorials and discussion sections, holding office hours, counseling students, proctoring exams, maintaining course websites and monitoring discussion boards, and grading homework, quizzes, and exams.
Research Assistantship (RA): The principal duty of a research assistant is to contribute, under supervision and direction of a faculty member, principal investigator, or other designated individual, to a program of departmental, interdepartmental, or sponsored research, including but not limited to the gathering and analysis of data or evidence; the development of theoretical analyses and models; and the production or publication of scholarly journals and research reports. The appointment is made with the understanding that the overall work experience will contribute to the professional training of the employee.
Fellow: A fellowship or traineeship is an award to a graduate student that covers tuition, partially or fully, and also provides a stipend to help defray living expenses. Most awards are made on the basis of merit, but in some circumstances can be based on financial need. A full fellowship covers the full cost of a student’s education for a prescribed period of time, which includes tuition and a monthly stipend; many fellowships also pay for student health insurance. Unlike the teaching or research assistant, the fellowship recipient does not have formal teaching or research obligations associated with their funding. Nonetheless, students are required to make satisfactory academic progress through fulfilling academic program requirements, which typically include thesis research and sometimes teaching experience.
External Fellowships: Students are encouraged to explore fellowship opportunities outside MIT. More information can be found here.
Terms and Conditions
- RA and TA appointments include work and level-of-effort requirements.
- Fellowships only require satisfactory academic progress as defined by individual department and program academic requirements.
- Financial support may be a combination of external fellowships, internal fellowships and assistantships. MIT’s funding commitment is secondary to any external funding commitments. MIT may supplement qualified external awards up to a base assistantship rate for that academic year, if applicable for your department or program. Reach out to Saana McDaniel (saana@mit.edu) for more information.
Health Fees/Student Health Plan
All MIT students are eligible for the MIT Student Medical Plan, which covers most services at MIT Medical in full. The cost of the plan is covered by payment of tuition, or if applicable, covered by an award or appointment.
Full-time students are also automatically enrolled in the MIT Student Health Insurance Plan (MIT SHIP), which provides comprehensive coverage and meets state health insurance requirements. Students may waive this coverage with comparable insurance. The plan starts on September 1st and runs through August 30th of the following year. Additional details can be found here.
Students can additionally choose to enroll in MIT’s graduate student dental plan.
Important Dates in 2023
A full list of important dates can be found on the academic calendar.
- April 15: Decision Deadline
- September 5: Registration Day (meet with Advisor or Registration Officer)
- September 6: First Day of Classes
Handbooks
- Guide to Graduate Study in Mechanical Engineering at MIT
- MIT’s Code of Academic Integrity
- MIT’s Code of Conduct is detailed in the Mind and Hand Book
- MIT’s Rules and Regulations of the faculty
Community Resources
MIT MechE DEI Vision Statement
MIT MechE DEI Community Values
MIT’s resources and commitment against bias, discrimination, harassment, and sexual and related misconduct.
