Quad

Head-to-head

Carnegie Mellon
Harvard

Key differences

The biggest gaps between these schools, largest first.

  1. 1

    Harvard's yield is 37 pts higher than Carnegie Mellon's

    Yield rate
  2. 2

    Harvard has 16 pts more first-gen students than Carnegie Mellon (26% vs. 10%)

    First-generation students
  3. 3

    Harvard's grants cover 44% of its full price on average, vs. 30% at Carnegie Mellon

    Aid generosity
  4. 4

    Harvard is 2.6× more selective than Carnegie Mellon

    Acceptance rate
  5. 5

    Harvard costs about $10.7K less per year on average than Carnegie Mellon ($48,312 vs. $58,996, all students)

    Average cost, all students
  6. 6

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

    Median earnings, 10 yrs

The shape of each school

Each axis is a national rank among 4-year colleges; further out = more of it.

SelectivityTest scoresSizePell shareFirst-genDiversity

Who's hardest to get into

Harvard admits 4.2%, Carnegie Mellon 11%; Harvard's yield is higher, at 84%.

Acceptance rate
Carnegie Mellon11%
Harvard4.2%
Quad's selectivity
  • Carnegie MellonUltra selective
  • HarvardUltra selective
SAT middle 50%Axis 1300–1600
Carnegie Mellon
1500–1560
Harvard
1450–1560
How they read a recordfirst-years at 3.75+
  • Carnegie MellonRigor, GPA, and rank very important86%
  • HarvardRigor, GPA, and tests very importantweighted GPAs

Who's on each campus

Carnegie Mellon and Harvard are about the same size; both have the same Pell share, 16%.

Undergrads
Carnegie Mellon7.3K
Harvard7.6K
Pell Grant share
Carnegie Mellon16%
Harvard16%

Majors and faculty

Computer Science leads at Carnegie Mellon, and Econometrics and Quantitative Economics at Harvard; Carnegie Mellon has 5 students per faculty member to Harvard's 7.

Students per faculty member
Carnegie Mellon5 to 1
Harvard7 to 1
Most popular majorshare of graduates
  • Carnegie MellonComputer Science15%
  • HarvardEconometrics and Quantitative Economics13%

What each costs

Harvard costs about $10.7K less a year than Carnegie Mellon on average, and its grants cover the larger share of its price.

Average cost, all students
Carnegie Mellon$59K
Harvard$48.3K
Aid generosity
Carnegie Mellon30%
Harvard44%

What each pays off

Carnegie Mellon's former students earn more, a median $114.9K ten years after enrolling; both graduate at least 90% within six years.

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

How each has changed

Applications grew at both; Carnegie Mellon got more selective while Harvard held steady.

Applications, 10-year change
  • Carnegie MellonGrowing+71%
  • HarvardGrowing+57%
All the numbersEvery figure for these colleges in one table, with differences highlighted.
Sources for this comparisonEvery dataset and year behind the numbers in this comparison; tap any ⓘ for one number's source

Sources:Carnegie Mellon University (Fall 2025), Fall 2025;College Scorecard, Fall 2024;College Scorecard, most recent release;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey, 2023–24;IPEDS Student Financial Aid survey, 2023–24;IPEDS Admissions survey, Fall 2024;College Scorecard, Entered fall 2023;IPEDS Fall Enrollment survey (part D), Fall 2024;IPEDS Completions survey (degrees awarded by field), 2024–25 graduates;College Scorecard, 2023–24;IPEDS Graduation Rates survey (Pell Grant and subsidized loan recipients), Entered fall 2018;Harvard University (Fall 2025), Fall 2025;Harvard University Common Data Set 2025–26, Fall 2025;Harvard University Common Data Set 2025–26, Fall 2027 applicants;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