Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private institution that was founded in 1861. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 4,547, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 166 acres. Its tuition and fees are $51,832 (2018-19).

Located outside Boston in Cambridge, Massachusetts, MIT focuses on scientific and technological research and is divided into five schools. University research expenditures have exceeded $700 million a year, with funding from government agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense. MIT’s highly ranked graduate schools include the School of Engineering and Sloan School of Management, in addition to strong programs in economics, psychology, biology, chemistry, earth sciences, physics and mathematics. Freshmen are required to live on campus, and about 70 percent of all undergraduates live on campus. Architect Steven Holl designed one dorm, commonly called "The Sponge."

The Independent Activities Program, a four-week term in January, offers special courses, lectures, competitions and projects. Distinguished alumni include Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and former Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke.