Carnegie Mellon University, is a private institution that was founded by Pittsburgh industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1900. It began as a tech college and later merged with Mellon Institute of Industrial Research in 1967 to form the university it is today. The school is consistently ranked as one of the best colleges in the United States. It's ranked 25th in the nation by U.S. News and World Report; seventh-best for veterans and 33rd-best value with an annual cost of just over $53,000. Add in housing and living expenses, and the tab comes to about $70,000 a year.
Only about 13.7 percent of applicants are admitted. That's because a degree from Carnegie Mellon University provides a high value in the marketplace, and the accomplishments of its graduates speaks volumes. It's known worldwide for its engineering, computer science and technology programs.
Forbes ranks the school eighth in the nation among STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) universities in the United States, and as the sixth best computer science university in the world, tied with Cal Tech.
The university has 20 Nobel laureates among its alumni.
Liberal arts, business and theater
But unlike some others on the list, Carnegie Mellon has a strong commitment to the liberal arts, with colleges of fine arts, humanities and social science. Its graduate schools in business, computer science and technology are as good as any in the country.
CMU's theater department is one of the best in the world. It has produced an astonishing
44 Tony Award winners.
Founded in 1914, the CMU theater department is the oldest degree-granting program in the nation. Notable alumni include George Romero, the film director who invented the zombie genre; Oscar-winning actress Holly Hunter; Zachary Quinto, known for his re-interpretation of the Spock character in the new "Star Trek" reboots; and Ted Danson of "Cheers" fame.
The school is the official higher education partner of the Tony Awards and is co-sponsor of the Tony Honor for Excellence in Education that honors K-12 theater educators.
Iconic artist Andy Warhol is also a graduate.
Financial aid
The average cost to attend CMU is approximately $33,600 a year after financial aid and grants or scholarship aid, as reported by the college. The school offers information and an opportunity to obtain financial aid. Many students attend with some form of assistance.
Here is a manual on financial aid and how to get it.
STEM
Most students graduate with degrees in computer science, electrical and electronic engineering, math and statistics, systems science and theory, and mechanical engineering.
Carnegie Mellon University is comparable to Cornell, Caltech, Dartmouth and Amherst. With an enrollment of about 6,000, the school affords a positive student-faculty ratio and small class sizes.
Athletics
Carnegie Mellon fields 17 men's and women's sports that have seen great success at the NCAA Division III level, whose schools do not award athletic grants-in-aid. The Tartans have won 81 conference championships and have participated in 108 national championship competitions since 1976.
CMU is a member of the University Athletic Union, a nine-team league of schools that similarly emphasize academics with athletics as a part of university life. The far-flung league stretches as far north as Massachusetts, as far south as Atlanta and as far west as St. Louis and Chicago.
The league sponsors 24 intercollegiate sports, with 12 for men and 12 for women women. The league is made up of Brandeis University, Case Western Reserve University, Carnegie Mellon University, Emory University, New York University, the University of Chicago, the University of Rochester and Washington University in St. Louis.
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