 In the 1930s , President Karl Taylor Compton and Vice @-@ President ( effectively Provost ) Vannevar Bush emphasized the importance of pure sciences like physics and chemistry and reduced the vocational practice required in shops and drafting studios . The Compton reforms " renewed confidence in the ability of the Institute to develop leadership in science as well as in engineering . " Unlike Ivy League schools , MIT catered more to middle @-@ class families , and depended more on tuition than on endowments or grants for its funding . The school was elected to the Association of American Universities in 1934 . 
