Overview
MIT is need-blind and meets full demonstrated need for undergraduates from any country — a policy it has held since expanding need-blind admission to international applicants. At the graduate level, funding is department-specific: most PhD students are funded through research or teaching assistantships rather than scholarships, while many master's programs are only partially funded or self-funded.
Eligibility
Undergraduate aid eligibility is assessed automatically for every admitted student who submits the required financial documents; there is no separate scholarship pool to compete for. Graduate funding eligibility is set by the admitting department, so the same applicant might be fully funded in one lab and not in another.
How to Apply
Undergraduates submit the CSS Profile and, if applicable, an International Student Financial Aid Application in place of the FAFSA. Graduate applicants should ask about funding directly in their application and during interviews — at MIT, an admission offer without funding at the PhD level is unusual, but it does happen at the master's level.
Tips
- Never assume a graduate admission includes funding — confirm it in writing.
- Undergraduate applicants should complete aid paperwork alongside, not after, the admissions application.
- Ask current international students in your target department how funding actually works there — departmental practice varies more than MIT's public pages suggest.
Always confirm current deadlines, award amounts, and eligibility directly on the official program or university website (sfs.mit.edu) before applying — these details change from year to year.