Policy on Outside Scholarships
The first $5,400 of your outside scholarships can be used to pay your student contribution (the amount we expect you to contribute from summer and term-time work).
After that first $5,400, MIT will reduce your need-based MIT Scholarship by the amount remaining in your outside scholarships. This is done because the funds in your outside scholarships, by definition, are available to your family to help you pay for MIT, and aid is only given to cover the amount your family needs.
Once your MIT Scholarship has been reduced to zero, any remaining outside scholarship funds can be used by you and your family to pay for MIT (effectively, to help meet their parent contribution).
Policy on Health Insurance
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts requires all students to have some form of health insurance. Access to all services at MIT Medical is included with tuition and covers most services at no additional charge. All students are also enrolled and billed for the Student Health Insurance Plan which meets the state insurance requirement and provides hospitalization coverage. However, if students already have sufficient coverage (usually under their family's insurance), they can be granted a waiver for the extended insurance plan. 2026-27 Cost: $5,148, not included in Cost of Attendance above. Please email [email protected] with any questions you may have.
Policy on Travel Allowance
The travel allowance is determined by MIT Student Financial Services and is dependent on the student's home address.
Policy on Student Contribution
The amount MIT believes you can reasonably be expected to contribute toward the cost of your own education by working over the summer and/or during the school year. By default, this is set to $5,400, broken down into two components based on what data and experience suggests students can reasonably do:
- Summer savings expectation: This is set to $2,000, the amount MIT expects you could reasonably contribute from income earned over the summer.
- Student employment: This is set to $3,400, the amount MIT expects you could reasonably contribute by working less than 10 hours per week during the academic year.
Requirements Associated with Maintaining this Award
MIT Satisfactory Academic Progress policies
MIT’s Financial Aid Overview
MIT admits some of the most talented students in the world through need-blind admissions. Once admitted, MIT meets a student’s' full financial need for all four years of their undergraduate career.
The cost of attendance is the total estimated cost to attend MIT for one year. The estimated cost for the 2026–2027 academic year is $92,760, and MIT determines all financial aid awards against these numbers—for every student who applies for aid. Learn more about MIT's aid process on the Student Financial Services (SFS) website.
Although the annual cost may change from year to year, MIT adjusts its institutional scholarships annually to cover 100% of demonstrated financial need. If you are matched with MIT, you will receive an official financial aid award directly from the Institute.
MIT awards financial aid based only on financial need. They are dedicated to meeting the full demonstrated need of each undergraduate for all four years and don't award any academic, athletic or other form of merit scholarships.
MIT's need based financial aid is awarded on an annual basis, and Match Scholarship Recipients must re-apply for aid each year. Provided there is no significant change in a student's financial situation, financial aid awards remain consistent year to year. If tuition and fees go up, financial aid will go up as well.
Students who do not match with MIT through the QuestBridge process are still able to apply to MIT in Early or Regular Action—and they are still likely to qualify for a generous financial aid package. Estimate your aid in less than six questions on the SFS website.
