The MicroMasters in Data, Economics, and Development Policy (DEDP) is a new credential offered by MITx that is designed and aadministered by MIT’s Department of Economics, with substantial support from the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). The MicroMasters consists of five intensive online classes covering the theoretical foundations of microeconomics, development economics, probability and statistics, as well as practical skills in data analysis, the design of randomized evaluations, and other econometric methods of evaluating policies and programs. In addition to the online coursework, which consists of lectures, short quizzes, homework assignments and exams, students also have to pass in-person proctored exams in each of the five classes. Testing sites will be available all around the world. The cost of each class (including the proctored exam) is between $100 and $1000 dollars, depending on ability to pay.

Today, the international development community is more focused on evidence-based policy and results-based development than ever before. Increasingly, understanding and producing rigorous empirical work using microdata plays a central role in many development professionals’ careers – and employers in governments, NGOs, foundations, international agencies, and others are actively looking for people with stronger technical skills than were required in the past. Whether you are a prospective PhD student looking to build the skills necessary to be successful in academia, running a jobs-training program and want to learn how to assess the impact of your work, or whether you are a policy-maker seeking to understand which of several educational interventions to scale up, we encourage you to consider this unique program.

Our MicroMasters courses are very similar to the residential courses offered at MIT. In fact, the lectures are recorded in real MIT classroom settings, so you’ll be able to experience lectures in the same way residential students at MIT experience them! The questions we’ll ask you to work through in your assignments are also largely similar to the problem sets and assignments that MIT students complete for these courses. We use edX as a means to deliver the same quality courses to a wider audience, accessible to anyone with the willingness to learn.

You have to enroll in all our MicroMasters courses through the portal. Click here to start this process today. Once you have paid for your first MicroMasters class, you are considered a member of our MicroMasters cohort and are eligible for additional TA support and other features not available to auditors.

Yes, you can! We welcome learners from all fields and backgrounds. There are no formal prerequisites: anyone who wants to enroll, can. That said, prior training in or exposure to economics, development, political science, public policy, public health, statistics, or related fields will be an asset, and we recommend that you enter the program with a solid understanding of high-school level algebra and calculus to keep up with the pace of the classes. In classes that require the use of the R programming language for data analysis, we will also offer a beginner’s module to get you started.

This depends entirely on how much time you are able to commit. At a minimum, you can complete all five online courses in thirteen weeks and sit the corresponding proctored exams shortly after (but these would be very busy months!). We expect that most students will decide to spread out the coursework over several semesters. We designed our MicroMasters with an eye to accommodating different learning needs and schedules – so you can take the classes over whatever time span works for you.   

Classes are designed such that you will need to spend approximately 12 hours per class per week, depending on your background. The coursework equates to a full semester course load at MIT. We also recommend that you budget some additional time at the end of each class to review the material and prepare for the exam associated with each class.  

All five classes and associated testing sessions will be offered three times per year. Semesters start in February, June, and September and will run for twelve-thirteen weeks, depending on the course. Precise launch dates will be listed on the MicroMasters portal.

The first MicroMasters classes will start in February 2017. Registration is now open.

No, the course lengths are fixed and are instructor paced. However, if you are very comfortable with the material, you are free to take as many of the courses as you want in a given semester.

Yes, we do! We recommend that you get started by delving into 14.73x: The Challenges of Global Poverty and 14.100x: Microeconomics.

No. Each student should have a single edX ID (username and email account) that must be used in the five courses. In fact, using two different edX accounts within the same course are grounds for expulsion from the course.

Overall, you will have to sit five exams – one for each class. We will offer three testing sessions per year in testing sites all over the world. You can either choose to take the proctored exams immediately after finishing a class, or finish several classes before signing up to take the exam. If for example, you need to travel to reach the nearest test center, you may choose to take all five exams during the same testing session.

The blended Master of Data, Economics and Development Policy (M.DEDP) is a new degree offered by MIT. It is “blended” in the sense of combining online learning with one semester in residence at MIT. Students who have successfully completed the MITx MicroMasters credential in Data, Economics, and Development are eligible to apply. Admitted students receive MIT credit for their MicroMasters classes, and will be able to earn a Master of Data, Economics, and Development policy within approximately half a year. During their semester in residence at MIT, students complete four classes drawn from the fields of microeconomics, development economics, and data analysis, and attend a dedicated lunch seminar to discuss policy issues and research topic. Immediately following their semester in residence, students complete a capstone project during the summer months, which consists of an internship in which they apply the knowledge gained during the program and a report on their internship project.

No. We will only consider students who have earned the MITx Data, Economics, and Development Policy MicroMasters credential.

No. While your performance in the MicroMasters coursework and proctored exam will play an important role in determining admissions, it will not be the only criterion we take into account. We do not have an admissions “formula,” but rather take a holistic approach to admissions. By that, we mean that there is not one component that we use to determine eligibility. So while grades and scores are important, it’s really the match between the applicant and the Institute, and whether we think a given applicant is a good fit for the DEDP program that drives our selection process. You will also have to demonstrate excellent command of the English language.

We expect the first cohort to start taking residential classes at MIT in the spring of 2019.

If you have taken and passed any of the courses that are part of the MicroMasters sequence in the past, you do not have to retake them. You will, however, have to pay the course fee in order to sit the proctored exam. Further instructions on how to register for the proctored exams in these cases will be made available shortly.

You can reach our team by at micromasters-support@mit.edu. We look forward to hearing from you!

Report your household income (the combined income of all people that are part of your household or place of residence). If you live with, or are financially supported by your parent(s)/legal guardians please enter their combined income instead.

Submit a photocopy of the most recent tax return of all income earners in your household as defined above

We will also accept a notarized income statement (i.e. a statement of annual salary, printed on the official letterhead of your employer, including the employer’s address and contact information, and signed by the employer). The income statement you submit must be signed by an authorized notary and contain an official seal/stamp and contact information. If your household income is based on more than one earner, you must submit notarized income statements for each person.

Please submit either one of the following: tax return (where you filed for zero income), a photocopy of an official receipt or check of unemployment benefits received, or a notarized letter verifying your unemployment status.

Please submit notarized income statements in English if possible. If you are unable to provide documents in English, please submit a translation of the statement(s) along with the original, notarized income statement. If you are submitting a tax return in a language other than English, please submit a translation with the original tax return. We do not require the translation to be certified – you can translate the document yourself.

To facilitate the timely verification of your declared income and ensure that your eligibility for a particular course price can be confirmed in time for the proctored exam you are planning to sit, we recommend that you submit your documents to us as soon as possible. At the latest, we require that the documents reach us 6 weeks before the date on which you are planning to take the proctored exam for a particular class. To minimize delays, we recommend that you fax, rather than mail the documents to us whenever possible.

Our fax number is:

+1 (617) 715-5799.

Our mailing address is:

Department of Economics

DEPD MicroMasters

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

77 Massachusetts Avenue E52-300

Cambridge, MA 02139

You will receive a notification when the documents you submitted have reached us. If you are unable to fax the documents and choose to mail them instead, we recommend that you select a carrier that offers mail-tracking services in order to avoid ambiguity around the expected delivery date, and track the status of your shipment. If, based on your mailing carrier’s estimate, the documents should have reached us but you did not receive a notification within five working days of their expected delivery date, please first contact your mail carrier to inquire about the status of your shipment before reaching out to us directly. Once we have confirmed the receipt of your documents, we will usually process them within three working days, and you will receive a notification when the verification process is complete.

Yes, absolutely! We also encourage you to enroll in the audit versions of our courses while your documents are under review – especially if the semester is about to start! Bear in mind that paying for the classes now will give you access to additional TA support and other features exclusive to students enrolled in the MicroMasters track. To take full advantage of all of these benefits, we recommend that you pay as soon as you decide to pursue the MicroMasters credential.

Please contact us directly at micromasters-support@mit.edu to explain the situation. Our team will then be able to assist you.

We would be happy to provide you with more information. Please get in touch with our team at micromasters-support@mit.edu.