特殊课程(Special Programs)
麻省理工学院开放式课程的目标是将麻省理工学院几乎全部的课程都放在网络上，不管它们是否可以归类入传统的学科类别中都是没有例外的。因此，为了让麻省理工学院开放式课程的使用者能够了解麻省理工学院的课程规划，我们现在让使用者能够使用到这些特殊跨领域课程的课程集合，我们称之为SP课程。
麻省理工学院分为五个学院：建筑与规划学院、工程学院、人文艺术与社会科学学院、管理学院、理学院与怀泰克健康科学与科技学院。在这五大学院中有三十三个给予学位的科系、学程和部门。
除此之外，还有许多的跨领域学程、实验和中心进行各式各样的教学与学习。举例来说，麻省理工学院的人文、艺术与社会科学就提供大学部好几种整合各科系的课程。一般来说，这类型的课程通常是由人文、艺术与社会科学学院中的不同领域和科系的教师参与，有时也有其他四个麻省理工学院的学院教师参加。
也有其他在理学、工程学、建筑学人文、艺术及社会科学的学程。这些学程提供了该领域知识完整体验的机会。
除此之外，还有许多的跨领域学程、实验和中心进行各式各样的教学与学习。举例来说，麻省理工学院的人文、艺术与社会科学就提供大学部好几种整合各科系的课程。一般来说，这类型的课程通常是由人文、艺术与社会科学学院中的不同领域和科系的教师参与，有时也有其他四个麻省理工学院的学院教师参加。麻省理工学院同时也在春季班和秋季班提供了大学部的研讨课程，让大学部的学生可以和某些特定领域的教师有互动的机会。
MIT OpenCourseWare (MIT OCW) has set a goal of publishing virtually all of MIT's courses, whether or not they fall inside the traditional academic departments. Thus, in the interest of providing MIT OCW users a view of MIT's entire curriculum, we now offer users access to a collection of "Special Program" or "SP" courses.
MIT is organized into five schools - Architecture and Planning, Engineering, Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Management, and Science - and the Whitaker College of Health Sciences and Technology. Within these are 33 degree-granting departments, programs, and divisions.
In addition, a great deal of teaching and learning takes place in interdisciplinary programs, laboratories, and centers whose course work extends beyond traditional departmental boundaries. The MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, for example, offers a number of undergraduate academic programs embracing several disciplines. In general, these programs are staffed collaboratively by faculty members from various departments and fields in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences and, in some cases, from MIT's other four schools as well.
A number of fields in science, engineering, architecture, and the humanities, arts, and social sciences offer minor programs. These minors are cohesive programs providing significant experience in their disciplines.
Many students augment their scheduled classes with individually planned academic activities. These activities include undergraduate research, special projects, internships, fieldwork, and co-op programs, and MIT offers a variety of course numbers for these activities. MIT also offers undergraduate seminars, in both the fall and spring terms, giving undergraduates an opportunity to interact closely with faculty on topics of current interest.
