No one said it would be cheap or easy to get through college, but annual costs at Carnegie Mellon University are edging toward a six-figure sticker price.

Officials at the Pittsburgh research university recently approved a 3.2% tuition increase for the 2020-21 school year. Parents of incoming freshmen may be excused if they head for the nearest cardiac care unit after running the numbers that will boost the sticker cost of a year at CMU to almost $77,000.

That’s well above the national average. According to the College Board, tuition and room and board and fees average $49,870 a year at four-year private universities in the United States and $21,950 a year at four-year public universities.

Some students manage to pare costs through various grants and scholarships. In 2018-19, CMU’s 14,625 students snared $105.2 million in need-based grants and scholarships.

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