The mission of MIT is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

The Institute is committed to generating, disseminating, and preserving knowledge, and to working with others to bring this knowledge to bear on the world’s great challenges. MIT is dedicated to providing its students with an education that combines rigorous academic study and the excitement of discovery with the support and intellectual stimulation of a diverse campus community. We seek to develop in each member of the MIT community the ability and passion to work wisely, creatively, and effectively for the betterment of humankind.

The Institute admitted its first students in 1865, four years after the approval of its founding charter. The opening marked the culmination of an extended effort by William Barton Rogers, a distinguished natural scientist, to establish a new kind of independent educational institution relevant to an increasingly industrialized America. Rogers stressed the pragmatic and practicable. He believed that professional competence is best fostered by coupling teaching and research and by focusing attention on real-world problems. Toward this end, he pioneered the development of the teaching laboratory.

Today MIT is a world-class educational institution. Teaching and research—with relevance to the practical world as a guiding principle—continue to be its primary purpose. MIT is independent, coeducational, and privately endowed. Its five schools and one college encompass numerous academic departments, divisions, and degree-granting programs, as well as interdisciplinary centers, laboratories, and programs whose work cuts across traditional departmental boundaries.

How many students attend MIT?
4,172 undergraduates and 6,048 graduate students in fall 2007. (See Enrollments)

How difficult is it to get into MIT?
In 2007, 12.5 percent of first-year applicants were offered admission to MIT. (See Admission to MIT)

How much does it cost to attend MIT?
Tuition for the 2007–2008 academic year is $34,750. Tuition and fees are the same for undergraduates and graduate students. About sixty-five percent of all undergraduates receive some type of need-based financial aid. See Tuition and Financial Aid)

How many international students attend MIT?
394 undergraduates and 2,489 graduate students from 111 foreign countries. (See International Students and Scholars and Enrollments)

What is the size of the faculty?
1,008 professors of all ranks. (See Faculty and Staff)

How many people work at MIT?
About 11,100. (See Faculty and Staff)

How many Nobel Prize winners are at MIT?
Seven, currently. (See Faculty and Staff)