Frequently Asked Questions

International students apply for aid using the same process as everyone else. MIT will meet your demonstrated financial need, the same as we do for domestic students. If you are an international student living in the U.S., you still apply as an international student.

Learn how to apply for financial aid on our international students section! It has all the up to date info on what you need to do.

For U.S. citizens of low-income backgrounds, CSS Profile fee waivers are granted automatically for up to eight schools directly from the College Board. MIT is not able to offer a fee waiver directly.

You may be eligible for a waiver if any of the following applies to you:

• you received an SAT fee waiver
• your family adjusted gross income is under $100,000
• you are an orphan or ward of the court under the age of 24

Visit the College Board for detailed information on eligibility and how to apply.

There are no fee waivers for international students.

You should check out the Apply for aid section of our website! It will walk you through the general process step by step for domestic or international applicants. Remember, financial aid application deadlines vary depending on if you are an Early or Regular Action applicant, or a continuing student.

If your parents are separated or divorced, you still need to submit financial information from both of your parents for your application to be considered complete. Both parents, including  those in a noncustodial role, need to fill out the CSS Profile, submit their federal tax returns, and W-2 forms. This information should also be submitted through the College Board’s secure IDOC platform. Students who believe that it is impossible to provide parental information may submit the Noncustodial Profile Waiver Request form through IDOC. Waivers are reviewed once a student has been admitted to the Institute, along with the rest of your financial aid application. Please note that the Noncustodial Profile will remain in the financial aid requirements checklist as a required document until your waiver request is reviewed. If you have trouble submitting financial information because of a previous or ongoing separation or divorce please contact us, we can help. We may be able to waive the need for financial information from your noncustodial parent.

When you complete your FAFSA, you may receive a message that says: “Your FAFSA has been selected for a review process called verification.” All this means is that you may have to take a few extra steps to confirm the information you reported on your FAFSA before you can receive financial aid funds. This is nothing to be concerned about, and if the verification information matches the information we have already received, it will not have any impact on your financial aid. We will reach out to you if anything more is needed.

Yes. MIT provides financial aid to all qualifying families regardless of an applicant’s citizenship status. Undocumented and DACA students are able to apply for financial aid as non-U.S. citizens, and we will meet 100% of your demonstrated need to meet the full cost of attending MIT, including tuition, housing, dining, books, and personal expenses.

For undocumented and DACA students, your financial aid will only include an MIT Scholarship, which is considered a grant that does not need to be repaid. It will not include any expectation that you work⁠ or take out any loans. Visit this page to learn more and see how to apply. And please know that we keep all information you share with us confidential.

Your FAFSA will appear as “In review” (meaning it has not been processed) in your studentaid.gov account and no corrections can be made until it is processed. You will receive an email once it is fully processed, letting you know that your FAFSA information has been sent to MIT.

We will reach out to you directly if you;

• received a Pell Grant and the amount changed based upon your FAFSA, or
• need to submit verification documents to MIT.

But don’t worry—both situations are rare! We do not anticipate changes to financial aid offers and will email you directly if we make any adjustments to your offer.

We understand that life happens and sometimes deadlines are missed. There is no need to ask for an extension—just submit your application as quickly as possible. Late applicants will receive their financial aid decision later than those who submit by the deadline, but we try to review all applications as quickly as possible.

There are no penalties for late applications. However, financial aid applications must be received before the end of the academic year, in order to be considered for aid in that academic year. For most students, that is mid-May. For those only attending in the fall, you must submit your aid application by mid-December. If your application isn’t completed by that time, you will not be eligible to receive either MIT or federal financial aid for that academic year.

Students who believe that it is impossible to provide parental information may submit the Noncustodial Profile Waiver Request form through the College Board’s secure IDOC platform. Waivers are reviewed once a student has been admitted to the Institute, along with the rest of your financial aid application. Please note that the Noncustodial Profile will remain in the financial aid requirements checklist as a required document until your waiver request is reviewed.

Congress recently passed laws to simplify the completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Applying for federal aid will now be easier for students and families as a result of a more streamlined application process and reduced barriers intended to expand the Federal Pell Grant to more students. Learn more about the FAFSA.

The 2025–2026 FAFSA is now available. Students eligible for federal aid should submit the FAFSA and CSS Profile as soon as they are able. If you would like to apply for financial aid for the 2024–2025 academic year, you are still able to submit an application.

The Student Aid Index (SAI) has replaced the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Like the EFC, the SAI is a number that is used to determine how much federal student aid you are eligible to receive. The SAI is determined by the information that you and your family provide on the FAFSA and your SAI may be a negative number as low as -1,500.

Your FAFSA will appear as “In review” (meaning it has not been processed) in your studentaid.gov account and no corrections can be made until it is processed. You will receive an email once it is fully processed, letting you know that your FAFSA information has been sent to MIT.

In 2022, the FAFSA was redesigned to be easier to fill out with a substantial reduction in questions. Some key changes:

• The Federal Pell Grant eligibility expanded to more students as determined by family size and income (Note: In 2026, Pell Grant eligibility expanded to include students enrolled in eligible workforce programs)
• Both students and parents must now create an FSA ID and provide consent for the FAFSA to retrieve their tax information from the IRS through the Direct Data Exchange (DDX)
• In the case of divorced or separated parents, the parent who provided the most financial support in the last calendar year must complete the application
• The number of children in college at the same time will no longer affect eligibility for federal need-based aid

You can get a sense of how much federal student aid you may be eligible for, with the Federal Student Aid Estimator. It takes about 10 minutes, and you can do this before filling out the FAFSA.

MIT uses the CSS Profile to determine need-based aid. We will continue to count siblings in college, so you will likely not experience any changes. If you were eligible for a Pell Grant in the past and it was reduced due to FAFSA Simplification, we will replace this with a grant to meet 100% of demonstrated need. You can get a sense of how much federal student aid you may be eligible for, with the Federal Student Aid Estimator. It takes about 10 minutes, and you can do this before filling out the FAFSA.

Students with a negative or 0 SAI are eligible for the maximum Federal Pell Grant. The difference is that a negative SAI indicates that a student has a higher need than a student with 0 SAI. This information can be used to prioritize how other grants with limited funding are distributed to students. The Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant is an example of where a negative SAI may be considered. However, schools cannot award more financial aid than the total cost of attendance, so a negative SAI does not increase the amount of aid that students receive.

If you indicate that you have an unusual circumstance when you fill out your FAFSA, but do not have all the required documentation, you will be granted provisional independent status. You will be able to complete the FAFSA as an independent student and will receive an estimated Student Aid Index and Federal Pell Grant. However, this does not guarantee that you will be granted independent status. Your financial aid counselor will reach out to you directly to make sure you complete the required documentation. Once complete, your dependency override request will be reviewed by MIT. Learn more about unusual circumstances and dependency override on our financial aid appeals page.

We will reach out to you directly if you;

• received a Pell Grant and the amount changed based upon your FAFSA, or
• need to submit verification documents to MIT.

But don’t worry—both situations are rare! We do not anticipate changes to financial aid offers and will email you directly if we make any adjustments to your offer.

We never bill you directly for your parent and student contributions. These are the resources we expect you to have to pay for your MIT education. We bill you for MIT charges such as tuition, fees, and on-campus housing and meal plans. You use your parent and student contributions to cover these charges when billed, as well as cover out-of-pocket expenses such as books, supplies, personal expenses, and travel.

Our counselors are always happy to assist you in planning how you will allocate your expected family contribution towards paying MIT charges and how to cover out-of-pocket expenses.