Practice School FAQs for Students (draft)

• The MIT Practice School is a signature component of graduate education in the MIT Department of Chemical Engineering. Students spend approximately seven months embedded at an industrial or government host site, working in multidisciplinary teams to solve real engineering challenges while earning academic credit toward their MIT degree.
• For more than a century, the Practice School has combined rigorous engineering education with hands-on experience, preparing graduates to become technical leaders across industry, government, and academia.

The Practice School is an academic program that counts toward degree requirements. Students remain enrolled at MIT throughout the program and continue making progress toward their graduate degree while completing engineering projects at their assigned station. Once a student has completed the Practice School requirements, he or she earns an MSCEP.

No. Although students gain extensive industry experience, the Practice School is an academic program, not an internship or co-op. Students earn MIT academic credit, are supervised by MIT faculty and station directors, and participate in a structured educational curriculum alongside their engineering projects.

Students work as members of small engineering teams, much like consulting groups. A typical week includes technical analysis, meetings with sponsor engineers, data collection, report writing, presentations, and regular guidance from MIT station directors.

Stations are hosted by leading companies, national laboratories, and government organizations across the United States and internationally. Locations vary from year to year depending on sponsor partnerships.

Students remain MIT graduate students throughout the Practice School. Financial support is provided according to departmental policies and may vary depending on your degree program and funding source.