Right now, MIT alumni, friends, students, faculty, and staff are voicing their support for America’s scientific and technological leadership; for affordable, merit-based education; and for advances that increase U.S. health, security, and prosperity.

They are standing up for MIT and its mission to serve the nation and the world.

At MIT, we are contending with a major tax increase on the annual returns from MIT’s endowment as well as other investments and assets. This new tax burden will cost in the range of 10% of our annual central budget, straining the resources we use to support research, innovation, and student scholarships and financial aid—the heart and soul of the Institute.
 
In addition, we remain very concerned about further threats to our mission, including ongoing efforts by federal agencies to cap their reimbursement of research infrastructure expenses well below actual costs, and dramatic proposed cuts to federal research funding. These issues are currently pending before the courts and Congress.

MIT President Sally Kornbluth and the Institute's senior leadership are actively engaging in Washington, D.C., meeting with policymakers on both sides of the aisle to champion the importance of research, innovation, and education in sustaining American excellence. The Institute has also joined with its peer institutions and mission-aligned associations in filing federal suits in response to the research cuts imposed by national agencies. 
 
At home, to navigate this unsettled financial climate, all academic and administrative units have reduced their budgets and continue to abide by an ongoing hiring freeze. A number of academic departments have admitted fewer graduate students for the current year, and many are feeling the strain of projects that have been stopped or slowed due to changes in federal policy.
 
The MIT community is working mind and hand to meet the moment, and Institute alumni and friends are an important part of the effort.