Unrestricted gifts are the most important gifts to MIT. They give the Institute the ultimate
flexibility—to seize opportunities and address unforeseen challenges as they arise. They
also improve the quality of campus life. To cite just a few examples:
Student financial support
Gifts to unrestricted funds enable MIT to remain committed to its need-blind admissions and
need-based financial aid policies, ensuring that every student who has earned admission to
the Institute is able to attend.
Seeding new research
Consider some of the life-changing inventions that were born at MIT over the past century
and a half—from the world-wide web to the human genome project. Projects like these begin
with funding, but many early-stage ideas are deemed too risky to qualify for backing from
traditional sources. Unrestricted resources help fill the gap.
Enhancing infrastructure
The physical infrastructure of the Institute is always growing and changing. Enter MIT
2030—a long-range plan to renew and evolve MIT’s facilities and physical environment, based
on a continuously refreshed understanding of the Institute’s academic, research, and
community priorities. Realizing this plan will require unrestricted support.