College dataData from U.S. Dept of EducationUpdated May 2026 · 4 min read
Data: 2026-05 Next refresh: Nov 2026

Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Cost, Graduate Salary, Acceptance Rate and Return on Investment

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private nonprofit college in Cambridge, MA. Students pay about $20,111 a year in net price, and the median graduate earns $143,372 ten years after enrolling. By our Degree-ROI measure the degree pays back in about 1 year and adds $871,508 over a decade, ranking it #1 of 918 (top 1%) by value added.

Avg net price / yr
$20,111
Median salary (10 yrs)
$143,372
10-yr value added
$871,508
Acceptance rate
4.5%

What is Massachusetts Institute of Technology's acceptance rate?

Massachusetts Institute of Technology has an acceptance rate of 4.5%, which makes it highly selective. It is a private nonprofit institution in Cambridge, MA enrolling about 4,535 students, with a 96.2% graduation rate.

How much does Massachusetts Institute of Technology cost?

Massachusetts Institute of Technology costs about $20,111 per year in average net price, what a typical student actually pays after grants and scholarships. Over four years, including typical borrowing, that totals roughly $95,212. Published sticker cost of attendance is $82,730 per year.

How much do Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates earn?

Ten years after enrolling, the median Massachusetts Institute of Technology student earns $143,372 per year. That is $96,672 more than the $46,700 that the typical worker with only a high-school diploma earns.

Is Massachusetts Institute of Technology worth it? Degree ROI and payback period

Massachusetts Institute of Technology pays back its roughly $95,212 cost in about 1 year, then keeps returning the earnings premium. Over the first decade the degree adds about $871,508 net of cost, a 10.15x return on the money invested. That ranks it #1 of 918 (top 1%) by value added. Its top-tier value is driven mainly by strong graduate earnings and a high graduation rate.

Top 10% value

Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduation rate and student debt

96.2% of Massachusetts Institute of Technology students complete their degree, and the median graduate leaves with $14,768 in federal student debt. That debt is about 10% of one year of median graduate earnings.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology by the numbers (vs the typical college)

How Massachusetts Institute of Technology compares to the median four-year college in our snapshot. Percentile is its rank among the 918 colleges that report both earnings and cost (higher is better).

MetricThis schoolMedian collegePercentile
Avg net price / yr$20,111$20,299cheaper than 51%
Median earnings (10 yrs)$143,372$54,768100th
Graduation rate96.2%57.0%100th
Acceptance rate4.5%75.7%more selective than 99%
10-yr value added$871,508-$28,192100th
ROI multiple (per $1)10.15x0.73x100th
Payback period1 yrs8.8 yrsfaster than 100%
How we compute Degree value-add & ROI. Investment basis = average net price × 4 years + median debt (net price preferred; published sticker cost used as a fallback). Earnings premium = median earnings 10 years after entry minus the $46,700 typical earnings of a worker with only a high-school diploma (BLS Current Population Survey, median annual earnings for workers with a high-school diploma and no college (~$899/week, 2023)). Degree value-add = premium × 10 years minus total cost, the net return of the degree itself over a high-school career (it can be negative). ROI multiple = 10-year premium ÷ cost. Payback = cost ÷ annual premium. Ranked by value-add among the 918 four-year colleges in this snapshot that report both earnings and cost; 226 of them do not pay back at ten years. Missing values are excluded, never estimated.
Open data: these figures come from the public College Scorecard (public domain). Our computed Degree value-add, ROI multiple, and payback are free to cite/reuse under CC-BY 4.0.

Frequently asked

Is Massachusetts Institute of Technology worth the cost compared to other colleges?

By value added net of cost, Massachusetts Institute of Technology ranks #1 of 918 (top 1%) of the 918 four-year colleges we rank, and returns about 10.15x the money invested over a decade.

Is Massachusetts Institute of Technology expensive compared to other colleges?

Its $20,111 average net price is below the $20,299 median for the colleges in this snapshot, making it cheaper than 51% of them.

Do Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates earn more than average?

Median earnings of $143,372 ten years out are above the $54,768 median, higher than 100% of the colleges here.

How hard is it to get into Massachusetts Institute of Technology compared to other colleges?

Its 4.5% acceptance rate is below the 75.7% median, making it more selective than 99% of the colleges in the snapshot.

Save
Dashboard