Federal funding cuts disrupt students’ graduate school plans
Students increase number of applications or forgo applying in light of reduced program sizes
Vivian Hir–The Tech
Since the beginning of 2025, funding cuts across federal agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) have caused universities, including MIT, to reduce the size of many graduate programs. Accordingly, undergraduate students have been forced to take a changed admissions landscape into account when forming their postgraduate plans.
Sophie Fan ’26, a mechanical engineering (Course 2) major, seriously considered applying to master’s and PhD programs that start in fall 2026. However, she ultimately decided not to apply to either, citing funding cuts as a primary reason. Fan, who would have pursued either academia or industry roles after graduate school, has instead chosen to enter industry immediately after graduation. She said that although she has not ruled out applying to graduate school in future cycles, funding availability would be a major consideration in her decision.
Others are still applying for postgraduate programs but are updating their strategies to account for the new environment. Ben Osborn ’26, a mathematics (Course 18) major, has wanted to go into academia since high school. To increase their chances, Osborn is applying to 15–18 mathematics PhD programs this fall — many more than the typical 10.
Isabella Pérez ’26, a biological engineering (Course 20) major, also applied to more universities due to funding cuts. Although geography was a major factor in her choice of schools, cuts have made her consider schools in less popular locations. Pérez added that graduate school feels like the only viable postgraduate option; because of her focus on research at MIT, she believes it would be “incredibly difficult to find a job if I don’t get into grad school.”
Wayne Zhao ’24 graduated from MIT with a degree in Course 18. He wrote that although he and his advisors suspect funding cuts will affect his applications, “more official support resources at MIT are completely blocked for me.”
Younger students ineligible to apply this cycle have also been affected. Mohamed Abdelmeguid ’28, a double major in artificial intelligence (Course 6-4) and mathematical economics (Course 14-2), intends to pursue a PhD focused on developmental economics after MIT. He fears that by the time he applies, universities will “admit [only] a fraction” of previous program sizes. Abdelmeguid wrote that he hopes cuts will not affect his UROP funding next semester.
Daniz Sattarli ’27, a chemical engineering (Course 10) major, wrote, “Getting an industry internship was already hard as an international student; now it is almost impossible.” Sattarli hopes that graduate school will allow her to pursue interesting research, improve her job prospects, and stay in the United States. Regarding other paths, she admitted, “Honestly, no idea.”