PhD Social and Engineering Systems at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Programme overview

Social and Engineering Systems is an MIT doctoral programme (PhD/ScD) offered through the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society. The degree chart lists 326 total units.

Department: Institute for Data, Systems, and Society | Study mode: full-time | Location: Cambridge, MA, United States

What you will study

Required and listed subjects include Fundamentals of Probability Statistics; Microeconomic Theory I and Microeconomic Theory II; New Econometric Methods; Quantitative Research Methods II: Causal Inference Information Systems and Decision Science Focus; Algorithms for Inference.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

Department-level graduate admission text (applies to the department's graduate programmes): Application forms for all programs are available online. Applicants whose first language is not English must offer evidence of written and oral proficiency in English by registering for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam , academic format, and achieving a score of 7.5 or better. Information about the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) can be obtained through the IDSS website. Applicants should refer to the details of each program concerning specific requirements for admission.

USD 66,720 a year (2026-27). Standard MIT graduate tuition for 2026-27, 9-month academic year ($33,360 per fall/spring term; the 12-month figure including the summer session is $89,775). Same rate for all graduate students; excludes the $420 fee, health insurance, housing and living Source

Graduate applications are made to individual departments, which run their own admissions processes and timelines; online applications open in early fall and most deadlines fall around the end of the fall semester.

Graduate deadlines vary by department; most departments use the unified portal at apply.mit.edu/apply. Fee waiver requests are due November 18 for programmes with a December 1 deadline, December 1 for deadlines of December 15-23, and December 15 for deadlines in January or later. Funding offers are honoured until April 15.

Apply through the official page: https://oge.mit.edu/graduate-admissions/

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