About Media Arts & Sciences

Media Arts & Sciences is the Media Lab’s graduate program. Students arrive from art, science, design and engineering, and develop their own questions alongside faculty and the people working at the next bench.

I don’t know where else on the planet I would have been able to do this. Maybe I would have had the idea, but I wouldn’t have had the skills or the people to talk to.

Eitan Wolf, Opera of the future

Students enter a two-year master’s program, with the option to apply for the doctoral track later — a deliberate choice, not a path that happens to you. True innovation requires total focus, so Media Arts & Sciences students receive full tuition, medical insurance, and a stipend, renewed each year based on academic progress and Lab priorities. This lets you take creative risks and drive real-world impact.

About the program

The Program in Media Arts and Sciences (MAS) is the Media Lab's academic program, housed within MIT's School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P). It enrolls more than 200 graduate students and hosts more than 400 Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) placements.

Each year, approximately 40–50 master's and PhD candidates join the program. Their backgrounds include computer science, psychology, architecture, neuroscience, mechanical engineering, materials science, music, and design.

Courses. MAS offers approximately 30 graduate courses and several undergraduate subjects. Topics include human-computer interaction, communications, learning, design, and entrepreneurship.

Center for Bits and Atoms. MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA) investigates the interface between computer science and physical science. It also admits students through MAS. The Center is known for its global network of digital fabrication facilities.