Children's College Scholarship Plan

Your dependent child will be eligible for a tuition grant under the Children's College Scholarship Plan if you are an MIT employee with a paid appointment for at least three months, and work at least 50% of the full-time work schedule in your department, laboratory, or center. 

Time to enroll: Whenever you are eligible — no need to wait for annual Open Enrollment.

Who is eligible

To qualify, your child must be your tax dependent and attend an accredited school full time. Your dependent child is generally eligible to take advantage of the Children's College Scholarship Plan if you:

• work at least 50% of the normal full-time work schedule in your department, laboratory, or center
• have a paid MIT appointment for at least three months
• retirees from MIT are eligible for this benefit under the same rules they enjoyed as active employees.

If you voluntarily terminate from MIT and later return, the amount of the grant available to your child will be based on your most recent date of hire, not your original date of hire. See the eligibility chart below for details.

Who is not eligible

Your dependent children are not eligible to take advantage of this plan if you fall into one of these employment categories:

• visitor
• contractor
• fellow
• affiliate
• teaching or research assistant
• honorary lecturer
• post-doctoral trainee
• consultant
• paid by MITemps
• member of the armed services assigned to MIT

Eligibility criteria

Collective bargaining agreements

If you are a member of a collective bargaining unit, all the provisions of the Children’s College Scholarship Plan are subject to the terms of your collective bargaining agreement.

• The Children's College Scholarship Plan covers full tuition for four years of undergraduate study at MIT and, in some cases, accredited universities outside of MIT, as long as your dependent child is a tax dependent and is a full-time undergraduate student.
• Grants are only made for the cost of tuition and may not be used to pay required fees, duplicate other financial aid, or to pay room and board or other educational expenses.
• You may apply for a grant for the first semester following your hire date.
• The benefit is prorated for employees working less than 100% but at least 50% time.
• If both parents are employed by MIT, only one will be eligible for Children's College Scholarship Plan benefits. If one parent is eligible for a greater benefit under the plan, the amount of the grant will be equal to that higher level of benefit.
• Get full details in the Children’s College Scholarship Plan Booklet (below).

If your child attends MIT, once your application is approved, the grant will be paid directly to the MIT Student Financial Services Office in late summer for the fall term and in late fall for the spring term. Checks from the plan cannot be issued in your name. The Plan benefit requires that your child be registered for a full time schedule each semester (36 credits).  If an approved child drops below full time status, the benefit will automatically be rescinded for the given semester. If the student returns to full time status, please contact MIT Benefits at benefits@mit.edu to reinstate the scholarship. 

For children attending other colleges and universities, checks for tuition grants are made payable to the educational institution. Checks from the Plan cannot be issued in your name. Grants payable to other colleges and universities are sent July 15 and November 15. For schools on a trimester schedule, payment will also be sent on March 1.

All checks issued to US-based schools are mailed directly to the school instead of mailed to employee's homes. Please note that you will not receive a physical check. If your child is attending a college or university outside of the US, we may contact you or the school to obtain wire information so the funds can be disbursed directly to the college/university. 

Tax info

Benefits from the Children's College Scholarship Plan are not taxable under current IRS rules. If there is a change, eligible employees will be notified.

You can apply for the plan by visiting the Children’s College Scholarship page in Atlas.

If you are a retiree, please contact MIT Benefits at 617-253-4251 or benefits@mit.edu to enroll.

Renewing enrollment

You need to annually confirm your child's continued enrollment in the Plan in Atlas. You should complete your confirmation by June 30 to ensure your tuition check will be issued by July 15. You will receive an email reminder the first week in June. You may apply after June 30, however, your payments may not be included in the initial July 15th batch. Payments for late applications will be issued as soon as administratively possible following the July 15th date. 

If you are a retiree, you will receive your renewal reminder in the mail or by personal email at the end of May. Your reminder letter will have instructions on how to renew your enrollment.

You can change the college or university your child is attending by visiting the Children’s College Scholarship page in Atlas. The change can be temporary (e.g. your child is spending a semester or year abroad) or permanent. A tuition bill is required to complete the application.

If you are a retiree, please contact MIT Benefits at 617-253-4251 or benefits@mit.edu to change your child’s enrollment. .