 MIT was named a sea @-@ grant college in 1976 to support its programs in oceanography and marine sciences and was named a space @-@ grant college in 1989 to support its aeronautics and astronautics programs . Despite diminishing government financial support over the past quarter century , MIT launched several successful development campaigns to significantly expand the campus : new dormitories and athletics buildings on west campus ; the Tang Center for Management Education ; several buildings in the northeast corner of campus supporting research into biology , brain and cognitive sciences , genomics , biotechnology , and cancer research ; and a number of new " backlot " buildings on Vassar Street including the Stata Center . Construction on campus in the 2000s included expansions of the Media Lab , the Sloan School 's eastern campus , and graduate residences in the northwest . In 2006 , President Hockfield launched the MIT Energy Research Council to investigate the interdisciplinary challenges posed by increasing global energy consumption . 
