MIT Scholarships 2027 provide need-based financial aid for undergraduate students, with MIT Scholarships covering demonstrated financial need, $2,000 First Year Grants for highest-need students and health insurance support for qualifying undergraduates.
Students planning to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) can access several forms of institutional financial aid designed to make undergraduate education more affordable.
MIT’s main undergraduate grant is the MIT Scholarship, a need-based award that helps cover the difference between a student’s cost of attendance and the amount their family is expected to contribute.
Unlike merit scholarships at many universities, MIT states that its scholarships are awarded solely on the basis of financial need.
According to MIT Student Financial Services, approximately 57% of MIT undergraduates receive MIT Scholarships, and the median MIT Scholarship was $69,777 for the 2024–2025 academic year.
MIT also provides additional assistance for some of its highest-need students through a $2,000 First Year Grant and, where applicable, assistance covering the cost of the MIT Student Health Insurance Plan.
Students considering MIT for 2027 should understand that these programmes are financial-aid grants rather than traditional academic-merit scholarships. The amount an individual student receives depends on their demonstrated financial circumstances.
MIT Scholarships and Grants at a Glance
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Country | United States |
| Study level | Undergraduate |
| Main award | MIT Scholarship |
| Scholarship basis | Financial need only |
| Repayment required | No |
| Undergraduates receiving MIT Scholarships | About 57% |
| Published median MIT Scholarship | $69,777 for 2024–2025 |
| Application consideration | Automatic after completing required financial-aid application, including CSS Profile |
| First Year Grant | $2,000 for highest-need first-year students |
| First Year Grant payment | $1,000 fall + $1,000 spring |
| Health support | MIT SHIP cost covered for qualifying highest-need students |
| Merit scholarship | MIT Scholarship is not merit-based |
| 2027 individual award amount | Depends on demonstrated financial need |
What Is the MIT Scholarship?
The MIT Scholarship is the primary form of grant aid distributed directly by MIT to undergraduate students.
MIT describes it as funding designed to help cover the gap between:
Cost of Attendance
and
Family Financial Responsibility.
In other words, MIT evaluates a family’s financial circumstances and determines how much the family is expected to contribute toward the student’s education.
The MIT Scholarship can then help cover the remaining demonstrated need.
Because it is a grant, the money:
Does not need to be repaid.
This distinguishes MIT Scholarships from student loans.
Are MIT Scholarships Based on Academic Merit?
No.
MIT explicitly states that its institutional scholarships are awarded:
Solely on the basis of financial need.
This means applicants are not competing for MIT Scholarship funding based on factors such as:
- Highest GPA
- Test scores alone
- Class rank
- Athletic achievement
- A specific academic subject
- Extracurricular awards
Academic achievement remains important for admission to MIT, but MIT’s institutional scholarship funding operates separately and is based on financial need.
Students should therefore avoid describing the MIT Scholarship as a merit scholarship.
How Many MIT Students Receive Scholarships?
MIT reports that approximately:
57% of undergraduate students receive MIT Scholarships.
This illustrates how significant institutional grant funding is within MIT’s undergraduate financial-aid system.
However, receiving admission to MIT does not mean that every student automatically receives the same amount.
Financial aid varies according to the student’s demonstrated financial need.
How Much Is the MIT Scholarship?
There is no single fixed MIT Scholarship amount that applies to all recipients.
For the 2024–2025 academic year, MIT reported a:
Median MIT Scholarship of $69,777.
A median means that half of scholarship recipients received an amount above that figure and half received an amount below it.
It should not be interpreted as:
- A guaranteed $69,777 scholarship
- The exact award for 2027
- A fixed scholarship package for every student
Prospective 2027 applicants should therefore treat the $69,777 figure as a recent reference point rather than a guaranteed future award.
Where Does MIT Scholarship Funding Come From?
MIT states that its scholarships are funded through:
MIT’s endowment
and
MIT general funds.
These institutional resources allow MIT to provide grant aid to undergraduate students whose financial circumstances demonstrate a need for assistance.
How Are Students Considered for an MIT Scholarship?
MIT states that all students who:
Apply for financial aid and complete the CSS Profile
are automatically considered for an MIT Scholarship.
Students do not need to submit a separate application specifically labelled “MIT Scholarship” under the process described by MIT Student Financial Services.
Instead, financial-aid eligibility is determined through the broader MIT financial-aid process.
What Is the CSS Profile?
The CSS Profile is an online financial-aid application provided through the College Board’s College Scholarship Service.
MIT uses the CSS Profile to collect information about a student’s and family’s financial circumstances.
Many private colleges and universities in the United States also use this system when determining institutional financial aid.
Applicants interested in MIT financial assistance should therefore pay close attention to the financial-aid application requirements and deadlines relevant to their admission cycle.
Is the MIT Scholarship Automatically Considered?
Yes, once students complete the relevant MIT financial-aid application requirements.
MIT explains that students applying for financial aid and completing the CSS Profile are automatically considered for the MIT Scholarship.
This means students generally do not need to search for and apply separately to hundreds of individual donor-funded MIT scholarships.
MIT later determines the appropriate scholarship fund for recipients.
What Happens After Receiving an MIT Scholarship?
Students awarded an MIT Scholarship are asked to complete an annual:
Student Information Review Form
between:
May 1 and July 1.
MIT uses this information to match students with the appropriate scholarship funds.
This process is relevant because some of the university’s scholarship donors may identify particular types of students they want their funding to support.
MIT may also ask a recipient to write to their donor.
This provides an opportunity for students to connect with MIT alumni or other supporters who share relevant interests or experiences.
Do MIT Scholarships Need to Be Repaid?
No.
MIT’s institutional scholarships and grants are financial assistance that:
Does not need to be paid back.
This is an important difference between grants and loans.
Students receiving MIT institutional grant aid do not accumulate debt simply because they received that scholarship funding.
MIT First Year Grant
MIT provides additional assistance to some of its students with the greatest demonstrated financial need.
The First Year Grant is worth:
$2,000.
It is intended to help highest-need first-year students pay for additional expenses associated with transitioning to college.
MIT gives examples such as:
- Sheets
- Towels
- A warm winter coat
- Other transition-related expenses
These expenses can be significant for students moving away from home, particularly those coming to Massachusetts from warmer climates or from outside the United States.
How Is the $2,000 First Year Grant Paid?
The grant is divided equally between the fall and spring semesters.
This means qualifying students receive:
$1,000 in the fall semester
and
$1,000 in the spring semester.
The grant is credited to the student’s account together with other financial aid after the student registers for the relevant semester.
Is the First Year Grant Renewable?
No.
MIT states that the $2,000 grant is:
For first-year students only.
Students should therefore not include $2,000 annually for four years when calculating their total MIT aid package.
It is specifically designed to assist with the additional expenses associated with starting college.
Who Receives the MIT First Year Grant?
The programme is intended for MIT’s:
Highest-need first-year students.
The source does not provide a fixed family-income threshold that automatically qualifies someone for the grant.
Students should therefore not assume they will receive it based on a particular income level unless MIT confirms eligibility through its financial-aid assessment.
MIT Health Insurance Grant
MIT also provides additional financial support for some highest-need undergraduate students through its Health Insurance Grant.
MIT states that it covers the cost of the:
MIT Student Health Insurance Plan, known as MIT SHIP
for highest-need undergraduates who do not have adequate alternative health insurance that meets MIT’s waiver requirements.
This can be an important benefit because health insurance represents another significant expense for university students in the United States.
Does Every MIT Student Receive Free Health Insurance?
No.
The Health Insurance Grant is specifically intended for qualifying highest-need undergraduate students who do not otherwise have adequate insurance that meets MIT SHIP waiver requirements.
Students who already have acceptable insurance coverage or who do not meet the financial criteria should not assume their MIT health insurance costs will automatically be paid.
Does MIT Offer Full Scholarships?
MIT’s system is better understood as need-based financial aid than as a traditional fixed “full scholarship.”
The university calculates a student’s financial need and may provide an MIT Scholarship to help bridge the gap between the total cost of attendance and the family’s assessed financial responsibility.
For some students with very high demonstrated financial need, the resulting grant package may be substantial.
However, the exact amount depends on individual circumstances.
Students should therefore avoid assuming that every MIT Scholarship covers every expense simply because the recent median scholarship amount was $69,777.
What Does Cost of Attendance Mean?
MIT’s Cost of Attendance represents the estimated overall cost associated with studying at the university.
The scholarship process then considers the difference between that cost and the family’s assessed financial responsibility.
This means the amount of scholarship funding available to one student can differ significantly from another student’s award.
Financial circumstances can include factors relevant to MIT’s aid methodology rather than one universal income cutoff.
Are International Students Eligible for MIT Financial Aid?
The supplied page describes MIT’s undergraduate institutional financial-aid system generally and does not provide a separate nationality restriction for the MIT Scholarship section.
International applicants should nevertheless follow MIT’s specific international financial-aid instructions and submit the required forms for their application cycle.
They should not assume that U.S. federal aid programmes operate in the same way for international students.
The MIT Scholarship discussed here is institutional grant aid provided by MIT rather than a federal student grant.
Is MIT Scholarship Funding Available for Master’s or PhD Students?
The information supplied relates specifically to:
Undergraduate students.
MIT’s website maintains a separate section for graduate funding and financial aid.
Therefore, students seeking:
- Master’s scholarships
- PhD fellowships
- Graduate assistantships
- Research funding
should use MIT’s graduate funding resources rather than assuming the undergraduate MIT Scholarship applies to graduate study.
Who Should Apply for MIT Financial Aid?
Students who believe their families may require assistance with the cost of attending MIT should complete the financial-aid application rather than assuming they will not qualify.
Because the MIT Scholarship is based on financial need, a student’s award can only be determined after MIT evaluates the required financial information.
Applicants should complete all necessary financial-aid forms accurately and submit them by the relevant deadlines.
Documents You May Need
The source confirms that the CSS Profile forms part of MIT’s financial-aid application process.
The supplied page does not provide a complete document checklist for every applicant.
Therefore, prospective students should follow the financial-aid instructions for their specific admission cycle to determine what other financial information or documentation is required.
Applicants should avoid relying on an old checklist because financial-aid requirements can vary by applicant type and year.
How to Apply for MIT Scholarships 2027
Students interested in MIT need-based grant aid should approach the process in several stages.
First, applicants need to complete the relevant MIT undergraduate admission process.
Financial aid is then handled through MIT Student Financial Services.
Students who want financial assistance should complete the required financial-aid application, including the CSS Profile.
MIT states that students who complete these requirements are automatically considered for the MIT Scholarship.
Successful recipients may later need to complete the annual Student Information Review Form between May 1 and July 1 so MIT can match them with the appropriate scholarship fund.
What Makes MIT Financial Aid Different?
A major feature of MIT’s system is that its institutional scholarship programme is based on demonstrated financial circumstances rather than academic merit.
This means there is no separate competition in which one applicant receives an MIT Scholarship simply because their academic results are stronger than another admitted student’s results.
MIT first assesses students for admission.
Financial aid then focuses on the family’s ability to meet educational costs.
This approach can be particularly important for highly qualified students who are admitted to MIT but may otherwise find the cost difficult to afford.
Application Mistakes to Avoid
One common mistake is treating the MIT Scholarship as a merit award. MIT explicitly states that its scholarships are awarded solely according to financial need.
Another mistake is assuming that the published $69,777 median scholarship is the amount every successful applicant will receive. It is a median figure from 2024–2025, not a guaranteed 2027 award.
Students should also avoid overlooking the CSS Profile. MIT identifies it as part of the financial-aid process used to automatically consider applicants for an MIT Scholarship.
Applicants should not assume the $2,000 First Year Grant is renewable either. It applies only to first-year students who meet MIT’s highest-need criteria.
Finally, graduate applicants should not use this undergraduate scholarship information when planning Master’s or doctoral funding. MIT has separate graduate financial-aid structures.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the MIT Scholarship?
The MIT Scholarship is MIT’s primary institutional grant for undergraduate students. It is awarded solely according to demonstrated financial need and does not need to be repaid.
How many undergraduate students receive MIT Scholarships?
MIT says approximately 57% of its undergraduates receive MIT Scholarships.
How much is the MIT Scholarship?
There is no fixed amount. The median MIT Scholarship was $69,777 for 2024–2025.
Will the MIT Scholarship be $69,777 in 2027?
Not necessarily. The $69,777 figure is the published median for 2024–2025 and should not be treated as a guaranteed 2027 amount.
Are MIT Scholarships based on grades?
No. MIT states that its scholarships are awarded solely according to financial need.
Do MIT Scholarships need to be repaid?
No.
Do I need a separate scholarship application?
MIT states that students who apply for financial aid and complete the CSS Profile are automatically considered for an MIT Scholarship.
What is the CSS Profile?
It is an online financial-aid application administered through the College Board and used by MIT and many other private universities to assess institutional financial aid.
What is the MIT First Year Grant?
It is a $2,000 grant for MIT’s highest-need first-year students to help cover additional transition-to-college expenses.
How is the First Year Grant paid?
It is divided into $1,000 in the fall and $1,000 in the spring.
Can students receive the $2,000 grant every year?
No. MIT says it is for first-year students only.
Does MIT help with health insurance?
Yes. MIT covers the cost of the MIT Student Health Insurance Plan for qualifying highest-need undergraduates who do not otherwise have adequate health coverage satisfying MIT’s waiver requirements.
Does every student receive free MIT health insurance?
No. The grant is limited to qualifying highest-need students under the published rules.
Are MIT Scholarships available for graduate students?
The scholarship information discussed here applies to undergraduate students. Graduate students have a separate MIT funding and aid system.
Where does MIT Scholarship money come from?
MIT says its scholarship funding comes from its endowment and general funds.
What happens after I receive a scholarship?
Recipients may need to complete the annual Student Information Review Form between May 1 and July 1 so MIT can match them with an appropriate scholarship fund.
Why MIT Scholarships 2027 Are Worth Understanding
The MIT Scholarships 2027 financial-aid system can provide significant assistance to undergraduate students whose families demonstrate financial need.
Rather than offering a fixed merit scholarship based on academic rankings, MIT uses institutional grant aid to help address the difference between the cost of attending the university and the family’s assessed financial responsibility.
Approximately 57% of MIT undergraduates receive MIT Scholarships, while the median scholarship reached $69,777 in 2024–2025.
MIT also provides targeted support to students with particularly high demonstrated need. This includes a $2,000 First Year Grant to help with transition expenses and, for qualifying students, assistance covering the cost of the MIT Student Health Insurance Plan.
For prospective 2027 students, the most important step is to distinguish admission from financial aid and complete the required financial-aid process on time.
Students who apply for financial aid and complete the CSS Profile are automatically considered for MIT Scholarship support, with the actual award determined according to their individual financial circumstances.
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