Massachusetts Institute of Technology

#11 / #6
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 key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the most prestigious and highly ranked academic institutions in the world.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Online Degrees

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Admissions, Retention, and Graduation Information

Annual ApplicationsAcceptanceGraduation RateMedian SAT ScoreMedian ACT Score
33,2404%96%154535

How Much Does Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cost To Attend?

Tuition (in-state)
$55,878
Price by Family Income
IncomeAverage Net Cost
0 - 30K$5,193
30K - 48K$-2,603
48K - 75K$2,834
75K - 110K$14,291
110K+$41,635

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
13,3584,5558,803

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

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

Massachusetts Institute of Technology's most influential alumni faculty 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 .
Claude Shannon
Claude Shannon
An American mathematician and information theorist .
Paul Krugman
Paul Krugman
An American economist .
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.
William Shockley
William Shockley
An American physicist and inventor.
Murray Gell-Mann
Murray Gell-Mann
An American physicist .
Vannevar Bush
Vannevar Bush
An American electrical engineer and science administrator .
George Lakoff
George Lakoff
An American linguist.
Lawrence Summers
Lawrence Summers
An American economist, Secretary of the Treasury, college administrator, and U.S. government official.

Image Attributions