This guide will help you understand how MIT sequences its courses within each discipline and what courses MIT requires for a complete program of study. MIT OpenCourseWare provides this guide for informational purposes only. You cannot receive a degree, a certificate, or any kind of credit for your study of courses on OCW.

MIT is organized into five schools:

• School of Architecture and Planning
• School of Engineering
• School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
• Sloan School of Management
• School of Science

In addition, MIT and Harvard University operate a joint program in health science called the Whitaker College of Health Sciences and Technology. All together, there are 33 degree-granting departments, programs, and divisions. In addition, a great deal of research and teaching takes place in interdisciplinary programs, laboratories, and centers whose work extends beyond traditional departmental boundaries.

Undergraduate Education
Graduate Education
Curriculum Details by Department

Undergraduate Education

MIT strives to provide students with a strong scientific, technical, and humanistic foundation, and to encourage them to develop creativity in defining problems and seeking solutions. For the Bachelor of Science degree, students must complete a core requirement that is equally divided between science and mathematics, and the humanities, arts, and social sciences. The science/mathematics requirement includes chemistry, biology, physics, and calculus, as well as laboratory and science electives. The humanities, arts, and social sciences requirement must be fulfilled among three of five categories: literary and textual studies; language, thought, and value; the arts; cultures and societies; and historical studies. Students must also complete a four-subject communications requirement.

MIT undergraduate General Institute Requirements include:

• An eight-subject humanities, arts, and social sciences requirement
• A six-subject science requirement
  • Two terms of calculus
  • Two terms of physics
  • One term of chemistry
  • One term of biology
• Two restricted electives in science and technology subjects
• One laboratory subject

See the MIT Course Catalog for detailed information about General Institute Requirements and the Communication Requirement. Beyond these requirements, students must meet the standards of their chosen major(s)-see MIT Undergraduate Curriculum Requirements in the table below for specific information about each major (charts outlining course requirements for programs are provided where possible).

A typical course load is four to five courses each term. Freshmen are subject to a credit limit of no more than five courses, as they adjust to the pace and intensity of an MIT education. Upperclassmen are free to take as many courses as they like, with their academic advisor's approval.

To apply for admission as a student, please contact the MIT Admissions Office for an application.

Office of Admissions
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Room 3-108
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307

Phone: +1.617.253.3400

Graduate Education

Traditionally a leader in engineering graduate education, MIT has also attained national prominence for its doctoral programs in mathematics and the physical and life sciences. In addition, top-ranked graduate programs in economics; political science; linguistics; science, technology, and society; architecture; urban studies; and management have broadened the spectrum of graduate education at MIT. Graduate students may pursue any of the following degrees:

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
• Doctor of Science (ScD)
• Engineer, Master of Science (SM)
• Master of Engineering (MEng)
• Master of Architecture (MArch)
• Master in City Planning (MCP)
• Master of Business Administration (MBA)

The Institute has a single faculty that is responsible for both undergraduate and graduate instruction. Each department exercises a large measure of autonomy for its graduate programs, under general guidelines established for the Institute as a whole. The administration of graduate education rests with the president, the provost, the chancellor, the dean and associate dean for graduate students, and the Committee on Graduate School Programs.

Curriculum Details by Department