Carnegie Mellon tuition among the highest in nation, inching higher

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.