Financial Support

Department funding

For years one and two, the department offers all students admitted to our PhD program fellowship support equivalent to: full tuition for the academic year, twelve-month individual health insurance, and a stipend for the nine-month academic year. This support is provided by the department either in full, or as a supplement to other funds.

In years three through six, all students are offered full-time teaching or research assistantships that provide full tuition, a nine-month stipend, and health insurance. This support is contingent on satisfactory academic progress.

The department also offers paid summer research assistantships and summer fellowships as a supplement to academic-year stipends.

Institute rules require every holder of a graduate scholarship or fellowship to pursue a full-time program of graduate study.

Dissertation fellowships

The department is currently able to offer a limited number of competitive dissertation fellowships that allow PhD students in years four or five to have a year free from TA and RA duties. See the fellowships and awards section below for more details.

Health insurance

Your mandatory health insurance fee is covered by your award (and is not taken out of your stipend) and includes accident and hospitalization insurance. You will receive this insurance unless you can demonstrate that you have equivalent coverage through another source and complete a waiver with MIT Medical.
 

Outside funding

Incoming students are encouraged to apply for external sources of funding, such as NSF graduate fellowships, UniCredit Foundation Scholarships, SSHRC Doctoral Fellowships, and JASSO scholarships.

For years three through six, the department is able in some cases to provide supplementary funding for students with partial outside fellowships, thereby allowing them to reduce their TA and RA work requirements. Such supplements are provided to all students with active NSF fellowships, and supplements to other fellowships are considered on a case-by-case basis.

^{For more detailed information regarding the cost of attendance, including specific costs for tuition and fees, books and supplies, housing and food as well as transportation, please visit MIT's Student Financial Services website.}

Fellowships and awards

Department headquarters circulates a number of funding opportunities, both internal and external, to PhD students throughout the year. The awards and fellowships typically featured include: 

• Apple Scholars in AI/ML 2026 PhD Fellowship
  Typically circulated by email in July. MIT can nominate a select number of students. Departments run an internal nomination process and submit nominations to OGE. 

• Google PhD fellowship program
  Typically circulated by email in March. MIT can nominate a select number of students. Departments run an internal nomination process and submit nominations to OGE. 

• Hausman Departmental Dissertation Awards
  Call for applications in February. Fellowships support for students pursuing research in econometrics, industrial organization, and applied microeconomics.

• Jump Trading PhD Fellowship
  Typically circulated by email in September. MIT can nominate a select number of students. Departments run an internal nomination process and submit nominations to OGE. 

• MIT OGE Fellowships
  The Office of Graduate Education administers a number of endowed fellowships through an annual competition in March.  

• Pye Departmental Dissertation Award
  Call for applications in February. Fellowship supports one student from any field of economic research.

For more information on timing or the application process, please contact the department's Grad Administrator.