New Master of Science in Transportation Degree Program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Abstract

More than 20 years ago the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) transportation faculty developed a new degree called the master of science in transportation (MST). Given the inherently interdisciplinary nature of transportation studies, the degree was formulated as an interdepartmental program, with faculty from a number of MIT departments participating in teaching and advising students. After several decades of teaching this program, which had undergone a series of incremental changes over that period, the faculty decided the MST was overdue for a substantial reexamination. That process led to the development of a new MST design, which was implemented beginning with the class entering in 2000. The MIT transportation faculty first established some design principles and then redesigned the MST according to those principles: the need for both breadth and depth, the need for both quantitative and qualitative analysis, the integration of transportation domain knowledge and methods into classes, knowledge of the complexity of transportation systems, a set of universal core knowledge to which all MST students should be exposed, education for leadership, and research as a key component of the educational program. The new MST program is described and how this design conforms with the established principles is explained.