Quad
Carnegie Mellon
Harvard

Key differences on Outcomes

  1. 1

    Carnegie Mellon grads earn $13K more ten years out than Harvard's ($114,862 vs. $101,817)

    Median earnings, 10 yrs
  2. 2

    Harvard graduates 8 pts more of its students than Carnegie Mellon (98% vs. 90%)

    Graduation rate

Outcomes

Outcomes

Earnings and finishing

Median earnings, 10 yrs
Carnegie Mellon$114.9K
Harvard$101.8K
Graduation rate
Carnegie Mellon90%
Harvard98%
Retention rate
Carnegie Mellon98%
Harvard98%

Borrowing

Median debt
Carnegie Mellon$21.8K
Harvard$14K
Undergrads with a federal loan
Carnegie Mellon34%
Harvard4%
Median debt, Pell Grant recipients
Carnegie Mellon$20.9K
Harvard$16.4K

Eight-year outcomes

Credential within 4 years, all students
Carnegie Mellon74%
Harvard87%
Credential within 8 years, all students
Carnegie Mellon90%
Harvard99%
Enrolled at another college, 8 years on
Carnegie Mellon4%
Harvard0%

Graduation by group

Graduated in 6 years, Pell Grant recipients
Carnegie Mellon92%
Harvard95%
Graduated in 6 years, neither Pell nor subsidized loan
Carnegie Mellon94%
Harvard98%
Pell graduation gap
Carnegie Mellon2 pts lower
Harvard3 pts lower

Graduated in 6 years, by race and ethnicity

GroupCarnegie MellonHarvard
White94%98%
Asian97%98%
Hispanic/Latino89%97%
Black91%94%
Two or more races89%98%
International94%97%

All outcome numbers in the table

Sources:College Scorecard, most recent release;College Scorecard, Entered fall 2023;College Scorecard, 2023–24;IPEDS Outcome Measures survey, Students entering fall 2016;IPEDS Graduation Rates survey (Pell Grant and subsidized loan recipients), Entered fall 2018;Harvard University Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2024About the data(retrieved 2026-10-12)

Figures are the newest each college has published; years can differ between colleges. Each value's ⓘ shows its source and year. Why