Master's · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Is Computer and Information Sciences, General at Carnegie Mellon University worth it?

High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 1.4 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $150,189; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $207,471; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $65,734; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published): $70k (likely $70k – $70k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $135k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out in PA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 1.4 years (likely 1.2–1.7); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $1.03M (likely $878k – $1.21M); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $2.62M (likely $2.23M – $3.11M); Today's dollars
Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in: not reported / ≤ 20%; NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20

Scorecard reports no net price for graduate programs; cost is based on what graduates typically borrowed.