MIT Curriculum Guide
This page presents two ways to explore the MIT curriculum: an interactive map of OCW’s coverage of undergraduate curricula, and tables of links to curriculum details by department.
About the MIT Curriculum
MIT is organized into five schools:
- School of Architecture and Planning
- School of Engineering
- School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
- Sloan School of Management
- School of Science
All together, there are over 30 degree-granting departments, programs, and divisions.
In addition, a great deal of research and education takes place in interdisciplinary programs, laboratories, and centers whose work extends beyond traditional departmental boundaries. Interdisciplinary education programs are offered at both the undergraduate and the graduate levels.
Undergraduate Education
MIT strives to provide students with a strong scientific, technical, and humanistic foundation, and to encourage them to develop creativity in defining problems and seeking solutions. For the Bachelor of Science degree, students must complete a core requirement that is equally divided between science and mathematics, and the humanities, arts, and social sciences. The science/mathematics requirement includes chemistry, biology, physics, and calculus, as well as laboratory and science electives. The humanities, arts, and social sciences requirement must be fulfilled by taking one course each in the humanities, arts, and social sciences, along with a three-subject concentration. Students must also complete a four-subject communications requirement.
MIT undergraduate General Institute Requirements include:
- An eight-subject humanities, arts, and social sciences requirement
- A six-subject science requirement
- Two terms of calculus
- Two terms of physics
- One term of chemistry
- One term of biology
- Two restricted electives in science and technology subjects
- One laboratory subject
See the MIT Course Catalog for detailed information about General Institute Requirements and the Communication Requirement. Beyond these requirements, students must meet the standards of their chosen major(s). See the MIT Undergraduate Curriculum Requirements links in the tables below for specific information about each major.
A typical course load is four to five courses each term. Freshmen are subject to a credit limit of no more than five courses, as they adjust to the pace and intensity of an MIT education. Upperclassmen are free to take as many courses as they like, with their academic advisor's approval.
To apply for admission as a student, please contact the MIT Admissions Office for an application.
Office of Admissions
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Room 10-100
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: +1.617.253.3400
Graduate Education
Traditionally a leader in engineering graduate education, MIT has also attained national prominence for its doctoral programs in mathematics and the physical and life sciences. In addition, top-ranked graduate programs in economics; political science; linguistics; science, technology, and society; architecture; urban studies and planning; and management have broadened the spectrum of graduate education at MIT.
Graduate students may pursue any of the following degrees:
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Doctor of Science (ScD)
- Engineer
- Master of Science (SM)
- Master of Engineering (MEng)
- Master of Architecture (MArch)
- Master in City Planning (MCP)
- Master of Business Administration (MBA)
The Institute has a single faculty that is responsible for both undergraduate and graduate instruction. Each department exercises a large measure of autonomy for its graduate programs, under general guidelines established for the Institute as a whole. The administration of graduate education rests with the president, the provost, the chancellor, the dean and associate dean for graduate students, and the Committee on Graduate School Programs.
MIT Undergraduate Curriculum Map and OCW
Representing the entire MIT curriculum, MIT OpenCourseWare is unique among all collections of open educational resources. This interactive map represents the MIT undergraduate curriculum and which of those courses can be found on OCW, so you can visualize and explore what OCW's broad curriculum coverage really means.
The map is generated and maintained by The Mapping Lab, a project of the Willcox Group at MIT. Its data was last updated in June 2017. Please explore the map and send us your feedback.
Using the Map
MIT subjects are nodes (small circles). A blue node indicates that materials for this subject are on MIT OCW. Grey nodes are subjects not currently on OCW. A line between two nodes shows a prerequisite relationship.
Zoom in to display more data about any section of the map.
Mouse over a node to highlight the subject's prerequisites. Click on a node to see a link to the subject on OCW and a list of its prerequisites.
Search for courses by keyword. Results are matched to course titles and OCW's Course Topics. Click the "Show on Map" box to display search results on the map.
Please Note
The MIT Undergraduate Curriculum Map only shows about 1/3 of the total OCW publication, for several reasons. It does NOT include:
- Graduate subjects offered at MIT, and OCW coverage of these classes
- Undergraduate special topics and other classes which are outside the standard MIT curriculum
- Subjects that have been retired from the current curriculum, but are still available on OCW
- The presence of multiple OCW versions of a given subject; only the latest OCW version is linked
The data in the map was last updated in June 2017. Changes to the undergraduate curriculum and OCW publications after that date will be reflected in the next data update.
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Curriculum Details by Department
School of Architecture and Planning
| DEPARTMENTS | UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES | GRADUATE STUDIES |
|---|---|---|
School of Engineering
School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
| DEPARTMENTS | UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES | GRADUATE STUDIES |
|---|---|---|
|
Bachelor of Science in Global Studies and Languages (French Studies)/Course 21G Bachelor of Science in Global Studies and Languages (German Studies)/Course 21G Bachelor of Science in Global Studies and Languages (Spanish Studies)/Course 21G | No graduate program | |
No graduate program | ||
No graduate program | ||
Bachelor of Science in Science, Technology, and Society (Second Major)/STS | ||
Bachelor of Science in Humanities (Women's and Gender Studies)/Course 21H |
Sloan School of Management
School of Science
Curriculum Details for Interdisciplinary Programs
Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Programs
| Programs | UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES |
|---|---|
See General Institute Requirement: Physical Education Requirement. | |
Bachelor of Science in Humanities and Engineering/Course 21E | |
Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs
