特殊課程(Special Programs)
麻省理工學院開放式課程的目標是將麻省理工學院幾乎全部的課程都放在網路上，不管它們是否可以歸類入傳統的學科類別中都是沒有例外的。因此，為了讓麻省理工學院開放式課程的使用者能夠瞭解麻省理工學院的課程規劃，我們現在讓使用者能夠使用到這些特殊跨領域課程的課程集合，我們稱之為SP課程。
麻省理工學院分為五個學院：建築與規劃學院、工程學院、人文藝術與社會科學學院、管理學院、理學院與懷泰克健康科學與科技學院。在這五大學院中有三十三個給予學位的科系、學程和部門。
除此之外，還有許多的跨領域學程、實驗和中心進行各式各樣的教學與學習。舉例來說，麻省理工學院的人文、藝術與社會科學就提供大學部好幾種整合各科系的課程。一般來說，這類型的課程通常是由人文、藝術與社會科學學院中的不同領域和科系的教師參與，有時也有其他四個麻省理工學院的學院教師參加。
也有其他在理學、工程學、建築學人文、藝術及社會科學的學程。這些學程提供了該領域知識完整體驗的機會。
除此之外，還有許多的跨領域學程、實驗和中心進行各式各樣的教學與學習。舉例來說，麻省理工學院的人文、藝術與社會科學就提供大學部好幾種整合各科系的課程。一般來說，這類型的課程通常是由人文、藝術與社會科學學院中的不同領域和科系的教師參與，有時也有其他四個麻省理工學院的學院教師參加。麻省理工學院同時也在春季班和秋季班提供了大學部的研討課程，讓大學部的學生可以和某些特定領域的教師有互動的機會。
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.
