Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research institute located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological research.
Founded in 1861 in response to the increasing industrialization of the United States, the institute adopted the European polytechnic university model and emphasized laboratory instruction from an early date. MIT's early emphasis on applied technology at the undergraduate and graduate levels lead to close cooperation with industry but curricular reforms under Karl Compton and Vannevar Bush in the 1930s re-emphasized basic scientific research. MIT was elected to the Association of American Universities in 1934 and researchers were involved in efforts to develop computers, radar, and inertial guidance in connection with defense research during World War II and the Cold War. Post-war defense research contributed to the rapid expansion of the faculty and campus under James Killian.
The current 168-acre (68.0 ha) campus opened in 1916 and extends over 1 mile (1.6 km) along the northern bank of the Charles River basin. In the past 60 years, MIT's educational disciplines have expanded beyond the physical sciences and engineering into fields like biology, economics, linguistics, political science, and management.

*From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology

General . Founded in 1861. Regionally accredited . Degrees: 1,217 bachelor's awarded; master’s ,doctoral offered. ROTC: Army ,Naval, Air Force. Location :one miles from Boston. Calendar : 4-1-4 ,limited summer session. Full-time faculty: 1,365 total; 88% have terminal degrees,14% minority,21% women. Part-time faculty:470 total ;73% have terminal degrees ,7% minority, 24% women .Class size :65%<20, 19% 20-39,3% 40-49, 9% 50-99, 3%>100. Special facilities: Museum, visual arts center, computer science and artificial intelligence laboratory, institute for soldier nanotechnologies, institute for learning and memory.

*From College HANDBOOK
http://web.mit.edu/

MIT has a distinctive mission and history that set us apart from other universities. When the Institute was established almost 150 years ago, science had essentially no impact on the curriculum that was followed by most American university students. Our first President, William Barton Rogers, envisioned a new kind of academic institution-one that could, as he put it, "serve the times and the nation's needs."
Those principles have served us well, and today our work - in engineering, the natural and social sciences, the humanities and the arts - reaches people the world over. The Institute community extends far beyond campus, embracing international partners and more than 100,000 alumni around the globe.
I believe the world has never needed MIT as much as it does now. The major challenges of our age are increasingly shaped by science and technology, and by daunting problems of quantitative analysis and complex synthesis. With MIT's expertise in interdisciplinary problem-solving, the Institute has a unique opportunity, and a deep obligation, to make a critical difference - by creating the innovations, fueling the economy, and educating the leaders the world needs now.
In addressing these needs, we draw on an unwavering drive toward excellence, a spirit of innovation, a culture of collaboration, and a commitment to making an MIT education accessible to all who have the talents and ambition to benefit from our programs.

Susan Hockfield
16th President of MIT