MIT Enrichment Programs

MIT offers a variety of enrichment opportunities for pre-college students, both on campus and online.

OpenCourseWare

MIT has chosen to provide the entire content of MIT's courses online, for free. This initiative, known as OpenCourseWare (OCW), provides users with open access to the syllabi, lecture notes, course calendars, problem sets and solutions, exams, reading lists, even a selection of video lectures, from courses representing 34 departments.

For self-motivated students, this means that from the luxury of your own computer, you can learn the same material that current MIT students do. Currently, OCW receives more than 1,000,000 visits each month, including 61% of visitors from outside of the United States. Thanks to MIT's leadership in providing open access to its courses, more than 150 univerisities now also offer their own OCW.

OCW has also launched Highlights for High School - a guide to MIT courses selected specifically to help high school students prepare for AP exams, learn more about the skills and concepts learned in high school, and get a glimpse of what they'll soon study in college.

On-Campus Programs

If you live in the greater Boston area, you can get a taste of the kind of provocative thinking and delightful rigor that is the essence of MIT by signing up for one of our many academic enrichment programs. We list a few options below; for more information, visit the Council on Primary and Secondary Education.

MIT's Educational Studies Program (ESP) is run by a team of current MIT students with an interest in education and a desire to share their interests with others. A non-profit organization, ESP provides educational opportunities to junior high and high school students. Programs include the following:

• The High School Studies Program (HSSP) offers non-credit enrichment courses for 6th-12th grade students on a range of intriguing subjects, both academic and non-academic. In the past, classes have covered topics such as fusion energy, the history of London, C++ programming, and building audio speakers. Classes are held on Saturdays in the spring and summer at MIT.

• Splash turns the weekend before Thanksgiving into an extravaganza of lectures, workshops and seminars for around a thousand 7th-12th grade students. Splash is designed to allow you to get your feet wet in subjects you know little or nothing about, or to dive into in-depth seminars or intensive workshops. For a total fee of $20, you can take up to 20 hours of classes.

• The SAT Preparation Program (SAT Prep) can help you hone your Math, Verbal, and Writing test-taking skills and master the material covered by the SAT Reasoning Test. Held over eight Sunday afternoons, the program runs once in the fall and once in the spring.

• The Delve program offers students a chance to take an AP course that their school may not offer in a unique and creative environment. This year-long program offers seven AP classes in a variety of areas ranging from literature to physics, culminating in Advanced Placement exams offered by The College Board.

The School of Engineering Office of Special Programs can link you to a range of exciting offerings geared to various age groups. Some examples:

• STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) is a free summer program for talented Boston-area middle school students who are excited by science, technology and math. You'll take great strides academically, while also enjoying plenty of sports and summer fun. The program is taught by talented college students and also includes one-on-one mentoring.

• The Saturday Engineering Enrichment and Discovery (SEED) Academy is offered free of charge as an academic enrichment and career exploration program for public high school students from Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its mission: to inspire promising young people to pursue technical careers.