Frequently Asked Questions

Tuition is subsidized for all MIT students. The price of graduate degree programs varies by program and can be found under the specific area of study on the registrar's website.

The financial aid team will work with you to see if you qualify for federal loan funding. Graduate fellowships, teaching assistantships, and research assistantships are awarded by each department, lab, or center. You should contact your program administrator to learn more.

You are expected to complete your degree program without interruption.

If you’re granted a medical withdrawal or required to withdraw for a medical reason, you’re no longer registered for classes and no longer eligible to receive funding from or through MIT. This includes research or teaching assistantships. Under most circumstances, external fellowship funding is also suspended. You must contact your fellowship administrator for the applicable policy, since some fellowships pay stipends directly to students.

The Office of Graduate Education has general information on withdrawals and information on medical withdrawals.

The level of support for MIT graduate students to study abroad varies, but each year several MIT graduate students win distinguished international grants to study and conduct research abroad in a wide variety of fields.

For information on funding opportunities for graduate students with international study topics, consult the Office of Graduate Education or the Center for International Studies.

Graduate students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents are eligible for federal student assistance to study abroad if they are receiving academic credit from MIT.

In certain circumstances, you may be eligible for a graduate student summer tuition subsidy. However, if you’re a candidate for a professional degree, you’ll be charged tuition if you’re registered for the summer. Consult the Summer Session Catalogue for more information on tuition and financial aid for graduate and professional students.

Your department processes your teaching or research assistant award. Once it has been processed it will be reflected on MITPay. Please contact your department with further questions about processing.

For graduate students living on campus for the summer, you will be billed monthly for housing. You can view your monthly bill on MITPay. Payment is always due on the first of the following month.

We want to remind you that if your account has a balance due prior to registration day, you may be placed on registration hold.

If you have questions about any of the summer charges, you should contact Housing. If you have any questions about paying the bill, you should reach out to us at sfs@mit.edu.

We know there are a few issues that students and families are having as they attempt to fill out the FAFSA, which may not allow them to complete it at this time. We understand—and any delays in filling out your FAFSA will not impact your financial aid. However, you should still try to complete it as soon as you are able to do so. You can check this resource page or the known issues page on the Federal Student Aid site.

If your FAFSA appears as “In review” (meaning it has not been processed) in your studentaid.gov account, 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.

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.

As of mid-March, MIT is receiving FAFSA information from the Department of Education. We are awaiting additional updates from the DOE before we can begin reviewing FAFSAs and hope to do so by the end of April.

If you signed up for dental insurance but don’t see the subsidy reflected on your student account, you should email gradunionquestions@mit.edu directly. SFS is not administering the reimbursements and the team at gradunionquestons@mit.edu is working directly with students to make sure that all reimbursements are being properly administered.

If you see your reimbursement reflected on your student account, but the amount is not what you anticipated, please reach out directly to gradunionsquestions@mit.edu. SFS is not able to determine if the reflected amount is accurate, as we are not administering these reimbursements. The team at gradunionquestons@mit.edu will work directly with you to make sure you are being properly reimbursed.

If you missed the open enrollment period that closed on November 24, and would like to speak with someone about it, please reach out directly to the Student Insurance Office at stuplan@med.mit.edu or 617-253-1322.

If you would like to learn more about the graduate dental insurance plan and how to use it, You can review the plan summary or reach out to Blue Cross Blue Shield directly at 1-800-782-3675.

If you’ve already paid your dental insurance for the Fall 2023 term and are eligible for a reimbursement, please check your student account in MITPay. If you do not see your anticipated reimbursement, please reach out directly to gradunionsquestions@mit.edu. SFS is not administering these reimbursements and the team at gradunionquestons@mit.edu is working directly with students to make sure they are being properly distributed.

If you signed up for dental insurance but do not see it reflected on your account, you should reach out to the Student Insurance Office at 617-253-1322 or email stuplan@med.mit.edu. If you have a question about enrollment, visit Gallagher Student Health’s MIT student page and log in. If you have not used the Gallagher website before, you will need to create an account.

If you are not already enrolled in the student dental insurance plan but would like to do so now, open enrollment is taking place from October 24 through November 24, 2023. Coverage will begin on December 1, 2023, and run through August 31, 2024, and insurance premiums for the fall term will be prorated.

Please note: There will be no other enrollment period for this academic year, so you shouldn’t miss this deadline!

You can learn more about the dental plan on the MIT Student Insurance Office website and you can visit Gallagher Student Health to enroll. If you have not used the Gallagher website before, you will need to create an account. You may reach out to the Student Insurance Office at 617-253-1322 or stuplan@med.mit.edu with questions.

If you plan to return to MIT, you must first contact Student Support Services. You must be current on all your student account and student loan obligations and you must file your financial aid renewal application by the deadline, even if this is prior to the readmission application.

If a student receiving federal financial aid (except Federal Work-Study) completely withdraws from classes before completing 60% of the term, we are required to determine how much of the financial aid was earned up to the time of withdrawal. Any federal funds considered as unearned must be returned by MIT and/or the student to the federal government. This situation could result in the student owing aid funds to MIT, the government, or both.

On occasion, an undergraduate leaves MIT for a break, a change of direction or emphasis, or even to take advantage of educational, research, travel, or volunteer opportunities. Deciding whether to take a leave or stay—perhaps with a change in academic program—is a difficult decision. In addition to your parents and peers, there are people at MIT willing to discuss the issue with you.

Please contact Student Support Services for more information on leaves and for help.

Once we receive notification that you are no longer a student, we make the necessary adjustments to your student account and financial aid.

You are expected to complete your degree program without interruption.

If you’re granted a medical withdrawal or required to withdraw for a medical reason, you’re no longer registered for classes and no longer eligible to receive funding from or through MIT. This includes research or teaching assistantships. Under most circumstances, external fellowship funding is also suspended. You must contact your fellowship administrator for the applicable policy, since some fellowships pay stipends directly to students.

The Office of Graduate Education has general information on withdrawals and information on medical withdrawals.