3% stipend increase for all graduate students

Dear graduate students,
 
I write to share some very welcome news: MIT will increase stipends for all graduate students by 3% beginning December 1, 2021. This increase is in addition to the 3.25% increase graduate students already received for the academic year 2021–22, and is made possible by the Institute’s exceptionally strong endowment performance in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2021. Importantly, we are also increasing the centrally funded tuition subsidy provided to research assistants on grants so that this change does not impact our research competitiveness.
 
I encourage you to read more about these developments in this MIT News story. In addition to bolstering graduate student stipends, all on-campus, benefits-eligible MIT staff, faculty, and postdocs will receive a special 3% increase beginning in December.
 
The funds will also enable MIT to advance many of the promising ideas generated by our community in the draft Strategic Action Plan for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; the National Academies working group reports; and the upcoming report of Task Force 2021 and Beyond. We look forward to sharing more details about these efforts in the coming weeks.
The decision to provide increased support for students, staff, and faculty reflects our leadership’s commitment to investing in MIT’s talented community members — the individuals who make possible our collective mission of bringing knowledge to bear on the world’s great challenges. We are deeply grateful for the contributions you make to advancing MIT’s mission through your studies and research. And we are pleased to be able to leverage the endowment’s rare and astounding performance to show our appreciation for you in this way.
 
Sincerely,

Melissa Nobles
Chancellor