About
The MIT community is driven by a shared purpose: to make a better world through education, research, and innovation. We are fun and quirky, elite but not elitist, inventive and artistic, obsessed with numbers, and welcoming to talented people regardless of where they come from. Founded to accelerate the nation’s industrial revolution, MIT is profoundly American. MIT is profoundly global(opens in new window). Our community gains tremendous strength as a magnet for talent from around the world. Through teaching, research, and innovation, MIT’s exceptional community pursues its mission of service to the nation and the world.
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.
For MIT’s faculty — just over 1,000 in number — cutting-edge research and education are inseparable. Each feeds the other. When they’re not busy pioneering the frontiers of their fields, MIT faculty members play a vital role in shaping the Institute’s vibrant campus community — as advisors, coaches, heads of houses, mentors, committee members, and much more.
Diverse in every sense of the word, our community is a playground for opportunity in the heart of a global innovation hub(opens in new window). Just 364.4 smoots(opens in new window) (plus or minus one ear) across the Charles River from Boston — one of the best cities in the world for students — our 166-acre riverside campus brims with daring artists(opens in new window), talented athletes(opens in new window), and a club(opens in new window) for just about anything. With 500+ student organizations (chocolate science(opens in new window), anyone?), nearly 40 Greek-letter and independent living groups(opens in new window), chaplains for more than 20 faith traditions, and a commitment to diversity and inclusion, student life at MIT offers a welcoming place for everyone.