Massachusetts

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts
#10 / #8
Global Influence / U.S. Influence
#3
Most Desirable School
Private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, founded 1861

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Featured Rankings

About Massachusetts Institute of Technology

By James Barham, PhD

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, founded shortly before the American Civil War and universally known as “MIT,” is located just across the Charles River from downtown Boston. Starting from the MIT campus, if you walk, cycle, or drive in a westerly direction along Massachusetts Avenue (“Mass Ave,” to the locals), or ride the Red Line underneath it, you soon arrive at Harvard Square, with the bulk of the town of Cambridge sandwiched in between. Thus, MIT is not unlike a bookend paired with Harvard, geographically speaking, and academically speaking, as well, it looks upon itself very much as the equal of the older school.

The main difference, of course, is MIT’s greater emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. This may be seen, above all, in the whopping 96 Nobel Laureates associated with the school, including such stellar names in physics as:

  • Hans Bethe
  • Max Born
  • Richard Feynman
  • Murray Gell-Mann
  • Robert Laughlin
  • Julian Schwinger
  • Frank Wilczek
  • Charles Townes

MIT-connected Nobel Laureates in chemistry include:

  • Sidney Altman
  • Thomas Cech
  • Elias Corey
  • Peter Debye
  • Robert Mulliken
  • Robert Woodward
  • Ada Yonath

Among those awarded the Prize for their work in physiology or medicine are:

  • Werner Arber
  • David Baltimore
  • Andrew Fire
  • Leland Hartwell
  • Robert Horvitz
  • Salvador Luria
  • Susumu Tonegawa

MIT also boasts 26 Turing Award recipients (second only to Stanford), including:

  • Tim Berners-Lee
  • Barbara Liskov
  • Fernando Corbato
  • Shafi Goldwasser
  • Butler Lampson
  • Ronald Rivest
  • Silvio Micali
  • Marvin Minsky
  • Michael Stonebraker

As for mathematics, MIT can claim eight Fields Medalists, including:

  • Paul Cohen
  • Alessio Figalli
  • John Milnor
  • Daniel Quillen
  • William Thurston

But MIT is not just about the STEM disciplines, important as they are. It is also highly respected for several of its social sciences departments, especially economics and linguistics.

In economics, MIT people include:

  • George Akerlof
  • Abhijit Banerjee
  • Esther Duflo
  • Bengt Holmström
  • William Nordhaus
  • Paul Romer
  • Robert Shiller
  • Richard Thaler
  • Oliver Williamson
  • Paul Krugman
  • Joseph Stiglitz

As for linguistics, suffice it to say that MIT has been the academic home of Noam Chomsky since 1955. This fact alone has been enough to turn MIT into Ground Zero of the deep structure/transformational grammar revolution in the study of human language during the 1950s and 1960s, and a veritable Mecca for generations of students ever since. Chomsky’s theoretical innovations, which swept away most intellectual opposition decades ago, continue to this day to provide the basic conceptual framework for linguistics as an academic discipline.

Among MIT – connected philosophers, we may mention Saul Kripke and Hubert Dreyfus.

According to Wikipedia, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and science.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Online Degrees

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Admissions, Retention, and Graduation Information

Annual ApplicationsAcceptanceGraduation RateMedian SAT ScoreMedian ACT Score
33,7674%95%155535

How Much Does Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cost To Attend?

Tuition (in-state)
$57,986
Price by Family Income
IncomeAverage Net Cost
0 - 30K$5,347
30K - 48K$-2,251
48K - 75K$1,918
75K - 110K$13,035
110K+$44,726

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

How Much Do Massachusetts Institute of Technology Graduates Make?

If you graduate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then you can expect to earn an average of $153,600 per year. You also have a 90% chance of being employed after 10 years.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Demographics

Demographic data is for full-time, on-campus students.

Student BodyUnder-GradsGraduates
12,9234,7028,221

Where is Massachusetts Institute of Technology?

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is located at 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge MA 02139-4307

How Safe is Massachusetts Institute of Technology?

Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a violent crime rate of less than .01% and a property crime rate of less than .01%. Cambridge has a violent crime rate of less than .01% and a property crime rate of less than .01%.

What Is Massachusetts Institute of Technology Known For?

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is known for it's academic work in the following disciplines:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Top Areas of Influence With Degrees Offered

Computer Science
#1
World Rank
#1
Historical Rank
#1
USA Rank
computer-science Degrees
Engineering
#1
World Rank
#1
Historical Rank
#1
USA Rank
engineering Degrees
Economics
#4
World Rank
#6
Historical Rank
#3
USA Rank
economics Degrees
Chemistry
#6
World Rank
#13
Historical Rank
#3
USA Rank
chemistry Degrees
Physics
#5
World Rank
#8
Historical Rank
#4
USA Rank
physics Degrees
Mathematics
#9
World Rank
#19
Historical Rank
#5
USA Rank
math Degrees
Earth Sciences
#11
World Rank
#15
Historical Rank
#5
USA Rank
earth-science Degrees
Business
#8
World Rank
#8
Historical Rank
#7
USA Rank
business Degrees
Biology
#16
World Rank
#32
Historical Rank
#9
USA Rank
biology Degrees
Communications
#18
World Rank
#20
Historical Rank
#10
USA Rank
communications Degrees
Philosophy
#29
World Rank
#44
Historical Rank
#11
USA Rank
philosophy Degrees
Psychology
#16
World Rank
#24
Historical Rank
#12
USA Rank
psychology Degrees
Political Science
#29
World Rank
#30
Historical Rank
#14
USA Rank
political-science Degrees
History
#36
World Rank
#46
Historical Rank
#14
USA Rank
history Degrees
Literature
#75
World Rank
#106
Historical Rank
#26
USA Rank
literature Degrees
Sociology
#76
World Rank
#79
Historical Rank
#28
USA Rank
sociology Degrees
Anthropology
#73
World Rank
#88
Historical Rank
#29
USA Rank
anthropology Degrees

Who Are Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Most Influential Alumni?

Massachusetts Institute of Technology's most influential alumni include professors and professionals in the fields of Computer Science, Engineering, and Economics. Here are some of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's most famous alumni:

Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
An American linguist and activist .
Richard Feynman
Richard Feynman
An American theoretical physicist .
Paul Krugman
Paul Krugman
An American economist .
Claude Shannon
Claude Shannon
An American mathematician and information theorist .
Joseph Stiglitz
Joseph Stiglitz
An American economist, professor, and recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics.
Richard Stallman
Richard Stallman
An American software freedom activist, short story writer and computer programmer, founder of the GNU project.
Ben Bernanke
Ben Bernanke
An American economist.
George Lakoff
George Lakoff
An American linguist.
William Shockley
William Shockley
An American physicist and inventor.
Vannevar Bush
Vannevar Bush
An American electrical engineer and science administrator .
Murray Gell-Mann
Murray Gell-Mann
An American physicist .
Lawrence Summers
Lawrence Summers
An American economist, Secretary of the Treasury, college administrator, and U.S. government official.

Who Are Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Most Influential Faculty?

Massachusetts Institute of Technology's most influential faculty include professors in the fields of Computer Science, Engineering, and Economics. Here are some of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's most famous alumni:

Thomas Piketty
Thomas Piketty
A French economist.
Carl Hewitt
Carl Hewitt
An American mathematician and computer scientist.
Esther Duflo
Esther Duflo
A French-American economist.
Sendhil Mullainathan
Sendhil Mullainathan
An Indian economist.
Scott Aaronson
Scott Aaronson
An American scientist, working on the field of quantum computing, (1981 - ), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Umesh Vazirani
An Indian theoretical computer scientist.
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Ta-Nehisi Coates
An American writer, journalist, and educator.
Constantinos Daskalakis
Constantinos Daskalakis
A Greek computer scientist.
Zoubin Ghahramani
Zoubin Ghahramani
A British intelligence researcher.
Feng Zhang
Feng Zhang
A Chinese-American synthetic biologist, (1981– ), Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China.
Lex Fridman
A Research scientist at MIT, working on human-centered AI.
Jacob Lurie
Jacob Lurie
An American mathematician.