Electrical Engineering and Computer Science MEng program experiences funding cuts of 5-10%
Teaching and research assistant positions and funding will likely be significantly affected
On March 13, an email indicating a 5-10% reduction in research or teaching assistant positions was sent to current and prospective Masters of Engineering (MEng) students in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) by Katrina LaCurts SM ’10 PhD ’14, Senior Lecturer and Undergraduate Officer for the department. MIT President Sally Kornbluth recently announced in a Feb. 19 faculty meeting that the Institute has instituted a blanket hiring freeze on all non-essential positions, including a 5-10% decrease in funding across all units.
The MEng program, which does not have guaranteed funding, will have to curtail the number of research and teaching assistant positions, with the teaching assistant position reductions to parallel the rest of the Institute at a 5-10% reduction. LaCurts emphasized the importance of proactively obtaining funding as soon as possible and reminded students of available resources, such as the EECS Undergraduate Office and EECS Opportunities List.
The MEng program is a popular choice for graduating Course 6 (Computer Science) seniors. According to the MIT Registrar office, 363 students are currently enrolled in the MEng program. These include 6-P and 6-PA, as well as the joint Course 6 majors (6-7, 6-9, 6-14).
Excluding freshmen, there are 1,536 total undergraduate students across Courses 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 6-9, and 6-14, which averages to 512 Course 6 students per year, suggesting the MEng program will see sustained, if not heightened interest in the coming years. Additionally, the number of MEng students has ballooned: the 2022-2023 academic year had 263, while the 2023-2024 academic year had 317 MEng students.
Several seniors wrote to The Tech regarding how their plans may be affected by the changes to funding. Ellery Stahler ’25, a Course 6-4 and 18 double major, intends to pursue an MEng next year and wrote that he never thought that funding would get “exposed.” Si Young Kim ’25, a Course 6-7 major, stated that the cuts have made her “more proactive in terms of looking/preparing for TAships.” A pre-medical student, Kim is considering working as an emergency medical technician or pursuing other opportunities after her MEng post-graduation.