Master's · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Is Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 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 2.1 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $116,776; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $137,061; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $57,062; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published): $60k (likely $60k – $60k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $65k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out in PA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 2.1 years (likely 1.7–2.6); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $393k (likely $266k – $550k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $1.19M (likely $894k – $1.57M); Today's dollars

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