Quad

Head-to-head

Key differences

The biggest gaps between these schools, largest first.

  1. 1

    Carnegie Mellon grads earn $21.4K more ten years out than Brown's ($114,862 vs. $93,487)

    Median earnings, 10 yrs
  2. 2

    Brown's yield is 18 pts higher than Carnegie Mellon's

    Yield rate
  3. 3

    Brown is 2.1× more selective than Carnegie Mellon

    Acceptance rate
  4. 4

    Brown's grants cover 37% of its full price on average, vs. 30% at Carnegie Mellon

    Aid generosity
  5. 5

    Brown has 7 pts more first-gen students than Carnegie Mellon (17% vs. 10%)

    First-generation students
  6. 6

    Brown graduates 6 pts more of its students than Carnegie Mellon (96% vs. 90%)

    Graduation rate

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

Brown admits 5.4%, Carnegie Mellon 11%; Brown's yield is higher, at 65%.

Acceptance rate
Carnegie Mellon11%
Brown5.4%
Quad's selectivity
  • Carnegie MellonUltra selective
  • BrownUltra selective
SAT middle 50%Axis 1400–1600
Carnegie Mellon
1500–1560
Brown
1510–1580
How they read a recordfirst-years at 3.75+
  • Carnegie MellonRigor, GPA, and rank very important86%
  • BrownSchool record and prep program required

Who's on each campus

Carnegie Mellon and Brown are about the same size; Carnegie Mellon has the larger Pell share.

Undergrads
Carnegie Mellon7.3K
Brown7.2K
Pell Grant share
Carnegie Mellon16%
Brown14%

Majors and faculty

Computer Science leads at both; Carnegie Mellon has 5 students per faculty member to Brown's 6.

Students per faculty member
Carnegie Mellon5 to 1
Brown6 to 1
Most popular majorshare of graduates
  • Carnegie MellonComputer Science15%
  • BrownComputer Science13%

What each costs

Brown costs about $3.5K 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
Brown$55.5K
Aid generosity
Carnegie Mellon30%
Brown37%

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
Brown$93.5K
Graduation rate
Carnegie Mellon90%
Brown96%

How each has changed

Applications grew at both; both got more selective.

Applications, 10-year change
  • Carnegie MellonGrowing+71%
  • BrownGrowing+61%
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

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