by our College Data Analytics TeamA large number of students are not billed the full sticker price of a school. Rather, they are offered a financial aid plan that includes a mix of loans, grants, scholarships, and possibly work-study opportunities. The total cost of going to Carnegie Mellon University can seem overpowering, but remember that the majority of students are given some form of financial assistance.
What financing options does Carnegie Mellon offer you, and what will you qualify for? Keep scrolling for more information. Scroll down to learn just how much financial aid will be open to you.
How much aid you qualify for depends largely on your family’s financial circumstances. Read on to get a sense of the financial assistance available at Carnegie Mellon University.
Colleges use loans, grants, scholarships and work-study to minimize what students actually pay out of pocket. However, some types of aid are more desirable than others, and some students will receive more than others.
For incoming first-year students at Carnegie Mellon University, 58% of new full-time first-years were awarded at least some aid approximately 998 incoming students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 51% | $48,107 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 51% | $45,553 |
| Federal Pell grants | 18% | $6,322 |
| State/local grants | 2% | $2,885 |
| Federal student loans | 33% | $3,578 |
The best aid is gift aid: grants and scholarships that carry no repayment obligation. At Carnegie Mellon, around 48% of undergrads got grants or scholarships worth on average $47,608 (across approximately 3493 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 48% | $47,608 |
| Federal Pell grants | 16% | $6,107 |
| Federal student loans | 34% | $4,785 |
Title-IV recipients living on campus saw average grant aid of $51,710.
The figures below show the average net price — cost after all grant and scholarship aid — broken out by family income.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $10,165 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $14,962 |
| Over $75,000 | $46,707 |
Remember these are net prices — what families pay after gift aid, not before.
Net price is the average annual cost after grants and scholarships are subtracted from the published cost of attendance — the figure closest to what a typical aid-receiving student actually pays.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $31,944 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $31,671 |
For an estimate tailored to your family circumstances, see Carnegie Mellon’s net price tool: admission.enrollment.cmu.edu/pages/financial-aid-estimator.
The median federal debt load at Carnegie Mellon comes to $20,250 in federal student debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $20,250 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $21,750 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $230.59/mo |
The 10-year payment estimate assumes a standard federal repayment plan and the median graduate debt amount.
A single median figure conceals how much debt outcomes differ student to student. The figures below chart the debt distribution at Carnegie Mellon.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $6,000 |
| 25th percentile | $14,000 |
| 75th percentile | $30,750 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $37,912 |
Outcomes differ by income bracket, by first-generation status, and by whether a student is financially dependent.
Debt by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $19,000 |
| Middle income | $20,548 |
| High income | $20,500 |
First-Generation Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $20,250 |
The figure below distills the debt data into a single burden category for Carnegie Mellon.
The Stafford loan program is the largest source of federal direct loans to undergraduates. The aggregate figures below show how active the program is at Carnegie Mellon:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 13704 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $314,650,507 |
Military-affiliated students can tap the Post-9/11 GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance.
GI Bill volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 102 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $2,985,806 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $29,273 |
DoD Tuition Assistance activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 1 |
| Total DoD amount | $2,500 |
| Average DoD amount per recipient | $2,500 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.