College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MAMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #54 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Return on investment ranked #1 nationally.

Who it’s a good fit for

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private nonprofit university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the fit is clearest for a student drawn to Engineering, Computer & Information Sciences, or Mathematics & Statistics. Most graduates are estimated to go into jobs rather than on to further study, and return is among the highest we track.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them. The model attributes more of that to a remainder it does not explain than to the factors it measures.

At the bottom of the income scale, aid can exceed the published cost entirely. The spread between the lowest and highest income bands is wide, and affordability is the weakest of the four .

The admission rate is far below the median for comparable institutions. The largest program, Computer Science, is also the highest-earning one. Return is among the highest we track, while affordability is above average.

MIT at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
4.5%
Six-year completion[2]
96.4%
Four-year earnings[3]
$161,961

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$1,480
Median student debt[4]
$14,768
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$42,501

MIT rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private nonprofit university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, enrolling 4,535 undergraduates. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, the university sits near the top of the field (96th percentile).

Massachusetts Institute of Technology admits only 4.5% of applicants, a rate that sits well below the 71.2% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. 99.1% of first-year students return for a second year, which is above the peer median of 83.4%.

For the first-time full-time cohort, 96.4% complete within six years, a figure that exceeds the peer median of 68.8%. Because an estimated 2.5% of students enter as transfers or part-time students, the six-year graduation rate describes a population made up almost entirely of first-time starters.

The four pillars are spread wide. Return is the strongest (99th percentile), while affordability is the weakest (64th percentile).

Access and mobility fall between them (82nd and 71st percentiles), so the four dimensions are not clustered together.

Azimuth ranks Massachusetts Institute of Technology #54 among nonprofit four-year institutions. The university's strongest pillar is return on investment, where it sits in the 99th percentile.

Access lands in the 82nd percentile, mobility in the 71st percentile, and affordability in the 64th percentile, the weakest of the four. The return pillar shows median earnings of $161,961 four years after completion, while the affordability pillar captures the net price families pay after aid.

19.3% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants, a measure of financial access in the Azimuth framework. Azimuth ranks Massachusetts Institute of Technology #265 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The access pillar rests on the share of undergraduates receiving Pell Grants and on how those students fare through completion. Azimuth ranks the university #432 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $63,143 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that coincides with the mobility pillar's standing among nonprofit four-year institutions.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

MIT rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#54
Massachusetts#2
Northeast#12

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 71
Access & reach
National percentile: 82
Affordability
National percentile: 64
Return on investment
National percentile: 99

Top-ranked majors

  1. Chemical Engineering#1
  2. Mechanical Engineering#1
  3. Physics#1

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / MIT briefing

MIT cost & financial aid[6][7]

Massachusetts Institute of Technology lists a total cost of attendance of $82,730, which includes $62,396 in tuition and fees and $20,280 for room and board. For students who receive financial aid, the average annual net price is $20,111, an offset of $62,619 from the published sticker price.

Aid covers about 76% of the listed annual cost for the average aid recipient. That is below the median for comparable institutions (same type and size), which is $27,371, by $7,260.

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, the university ranks #505 for affordability. The affordability pillar falls in the 64th percentile.

The published cost of attendance at Massachusetts Institute of Technology is $82,730, with tuition and fees at $62,396 and room and board at $20,280. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is -$2,533, meaning aid exceeds the full cost for qualifying families.

The average net price is $93 for the $30,001–$48,000 band, $1,480 for the $48,001–$75,000 band, $11,555 for the $75,001–$110,000 band, and $48,479 for families earning over $110,000. Azimuth ranks the university #505 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The average net price across all aid recipients is $20,111, which reflects an average financial aid savings of $62,619 against the sticker price. Among comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median net price is $27,371, placing Massachusetts Institute of Technology $7,260 below that benchmark.

The median federal student debt at completion is $14,768, with roughly 52.4% of federal aid recipients borrowing. That median is $9,431 below the peer median of $24,199 for comparable institutions.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing stands at $42,501. If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment for a graduate with the median federal debt is $168.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$1,480

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Net price can be negative: when grants and scholarships exceed the listed cost of attendance, students can receive the difference as a refund for other expenses.

Borrowing and repayment at MIT

Completers who borrowed through federal programs leave Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a median debt of $14,768. Roughly 52.4% of federal aid recipients use such loans.

When measured against comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median is $24,199, so the university sits below by $9,431. Parent PLUS borrowing, tracked separately from student debt, carries a median of $42,501 among parent borrowers.

Median earnings four years after completion reach $161,961 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a level that sits in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $63,143 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios anchored on the mix of programs offered span from $80,087 on the downside to $225,141 on the upside, with $161,961 representing the typical case. The median federal debt among completers who borrowed is $14,768, a balance that falls below the $24,199 median recorded for comparable institutions (same type and size). If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment is $168.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $42,501. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $168.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$14,768
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$42,501

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$168/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$540/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / MIT briefing

MIT career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Azimuth places Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the 99th percentile for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $161,961, at the 99th percentile nationally.

That is $93,711 above the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Graduates earn about $63,143 more than the model expects for similar students, placing that gap at the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $14,996. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $48,147. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $12,149.

Four years after completion, the median earnings of Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates stand at $161,961, a figure in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The earnings cohort includes 1,083 completers.

That median is above the $68,250 median at comparable institutions (same type and size) by $93,711. Graduates earn about $63,143 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that ranks in the 99th percentile.

Earnings scenarios, which reflect the university's program mix, point to a typical outcome of $161,961, with a downside scenario of $80,087 and an upside scenario of $225,141. An estimated 28.2% of graduates continue to graduate study, a share derived from program mix rather than observed enrollment.

Four years after completion, the median earnings of Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates stand at $161,961, placing the university in the 99th percentile nationally. That figure runs above the median of $68,250 for comparable institutions (same type and size), a gap of $93,711.

Graduates earn about $63,143 more than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 99th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $14,996.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $48,147. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $12,149.

Azimuth ranks Massachusetts Institute of Technology #1 for return on investment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios grounded in the university's program mix show a downside of $80,087 and an upside of $225,141.

The largest program, Computer Science, awarded 384 degrees and shows median earnings of $225,141 four years after completion, ranking #2 nationally in its field. Mechanical Engineering follows with 142 degrees awarded and earnings of $131,967, good for a national rank of #1.

The high-return program Mathematics earns a national rank of #2 with median earnings of $174,951, which is 2.52x the national median for the field.

The earnings scenarios at Massachusetts Institute of Technology show a wide range four years after completion, from a downside of $80,087 to an upside of $225,141. That spread reflects the variation in outcomes across the university's program mix.

The highest-earning programs illustrate the upper end of that range. Computer Science completers earn a median of $225,141, Mathematics graduates reach $174,951, and Electrical Engineering completers earn a median of $161,118.

Graduates of Massachusetts Institute of Technology earn about $63,143 more than the model expects for similar students. The debt side is lighter than the earnings side is heavy.

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $14,768 in federal student loans, which is $9,431 below the peer median of $24,199 at comparable institutions (same type and size). That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $168 a month if repaid over ten years.

Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $42,501 in Parent PLUS loans. The published cost of attendance is $82,730, but aid covers about 76% of that for the average aid recipient, an average rather than a personal quote.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$14,996
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
+$48,147
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$63,143

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / MIT briefing

MIT acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Massachusetts Institute of Technology admitted 4.5% of applicants, a figure far below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 27,490 applicants, 1,270 admitted, and 1,096 enrolled.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
4.5%
25th percentile
1520
Median
1550
75th percentile
1570

CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / MIT briefing

What are the largest majors at MIT?[12]

The earnings spread across Massachusetts Institute of Technology's largest programs is wide, but every one sits well above the national median for its field. Computer Science, the largest program at 384 degrees awarded, reports median earnings of $225,141 four years after completion.

Azimuth ranks it #2 nationally within its field. Mechanical Engineering, with 142 degrees awarded, reports median earnings of $131,967, and Azimuth ranks the program #1 in its field.

Mathematics posts $174,951 on 126 degrees awarded, at 2.52x the national field median. At the lower end of the range, Physics, with 67 degrees awarded, reports median earnings of $131,025 — still 1.71x the national benchmark for the field.

The variation is in how far above the norm each field runs, not in any program falling short.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology has 8 nationally ranked bachelor's programs and 9 programs with published four-year earnings data. The largest program, Computer Science, awarded 384 degrees and holds an Azimuth national rank of #2 within its field, with a median of $225,141 four years after completion.

Mechanical Engineering ranks #1 nationally and #1 in Massachusetts, with 142 degrees awarded and median earnings of $131,967. Mathematics awarded 126 degrees and its completers earn a median of $174,951 four years after completion.

Electrical Engineering and Physics round out the largest programs with published earnings, with 73 and 67 degrees awarded and median earnings of $161,118 and $131,025, respectively.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology awards degrees in a concentrated set of quantitative fields. Engineering accounts for 30.9% of bachelor's degrees awarded, and Computer & Information Sciences for 28.4%, with Mathematics & Statistics a distant third at 10.1%.

Overall, 83.4% of degrees awarded are in STEM fields. The university has 8 programs with an Azimuth national rank and 9 with published four-year earnings data.

The largest program is Computer Science, at 384 degrees awarded, followed by Mechanical Engineering at 142 and Mathematics at 126. Mechanical Engineering is the highest-ranked program, with median earnings of $131,967 four years after completion and a state rank of #1 in Massachusetts within its field.

Computer Science, the largest program, reports the highest earnings at $225,141 and carries a benchmark ratio of 2.10x against the national median for its field. Mathematics completers earn a median of $174,951 four years after completion, a benchmark ratio of 2.52x.

Electrical Engineering and Physics round out the largest programs with published earnings, with earnings of $161,118 and $131,025 respectively. The pattern is one of strength concentrated in a few large programs with strong earnings.

The two largest programs, Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering, are also the highest-earning and the highest-ranked, and their earnings figures sit well above the national medians for their fields. A student drawn to a smaller program should weigh that the four-year figure may understate later trajectories for fields where graduate study is common.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Computer Science 384 degrees awarded
$225,141
Mechanical Engineering 142 degrees awarded
$131,967
Mathematics 126 degrees awarded
$174,951
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering 73 degrees awarded
$161,118
Economics 71 degrees awarded
Too few graduates to report
Physics 67 degrees awarded
$131,025

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / MIT briefing

How does MIT serve students from different backgrounds?

Azimuth places the mobility pillar for Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 71st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 96.4%.

Graduates earn about $63,143 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 99th percentile nationally.

Azimuth places the access pillar of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 82nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The private nonprofit university admits 4.5% of applicants, a rate far below the peer median of 71.2%.

Pell Grant recipients make up 19.3% of the 4,535 undergraduates, and an estimated 2.5% enter as transfers or part-time students.

06 / MIT briefing

What colleges are similar to MIT?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with MIT.

Admissions peerHarvard University3.7% admitted
Comparison with MIT
MeasureMITHarvard University
Peer earnings · 4 years$161,961$134,794-$27,167 vs MIT
Average annual net price$20,111$19,066-$1,045 vs MIT · lower cost
Admission rate4.5%3.7%
Explore Harvard University →
Nearby alternativeHarvard UniversityNearby option · MA
Comparison with MIT
MeasureMITHarvard University
Peer earnings · 4 years$161,961$134,794-$27,167 vs MIT
Average annual net price$20,111$19,066-$1,045 vs MIT · lower cost
Admission rate4.5%3.7%
Explore Harvard University →
Lower-cost alternativeCalifornia Institute of Technology$16,075 average net price
Comparison with MIT
MeasureMITCalifornia Institute of Technology
Peer earnings · 4 years$161,961$152,843-$9,118 vs MIT
Average annual net price$20,111$16,075-$4,036 vs MIT · lower cost
Admission rate4.5%2.6%
Explore California Institute of Technology →
Similar profileDartmouth CollegeMatched across several measures
Comparison with MIT
MeasureMITDartmouth College
Peer earnings · 4 years$161,961$111,883-$50,078 vs MIT
Average annual net price$20,111$29,519+$9,408 vs MIT · higher cost
Admission rate4.5%5.4%
Explore Dartmouth College →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings