Higher-Ed Database

The Carnegie Mellon University network

A video-game skill tree: every level up is one more thing a school does better.

PA

10 colleges with a similar mix of majors, each also teaching engineering, computer & information sciences, and mathematics & statistics, are the same or better on all of yield, graduation rate, cost. That's fewer than 20: few schools like this one beat it on every count.

See it as a table
CollegeSizeYieldGraduation rateCost
Carnegie Mellon University (your pick)7,37746%94%$83,697
Stanford University7,904about the same size82%better92%same$87,833same
University of Chicago7,598about the same size88%better96%same$90,360same
Washington University in St Louis8,2201.1× as many undergrads47%same94%same$88,488same
Yale University6,814about the same size70%better96%same$88,300same
Massachusetts Institute of Technology4,53561% as many undergrads86%better96%same$82,730same
Duke University6,52388% as many undergrads59%better97%same$87,072same
Cornell University16,1282.2× as many undergrads64%better95%same$88,140same
Vanderbilt University7,221about the same size61%better94%same$89,590same
Tufts University7,126about the same size46%same94%same$88,300same
Northwestern University9,3991.3× as many undergrads55%better95%same$91,290same

From IPEDS, academic year 2024-25 (sticker prices from the year before where this year's are not out yet). “Similar mix of majors” means close on the degrees students finish, subject by subject, and on how many. Only colleges a student choosing Carnegie Mellon University would also weigh are counted: each must award at least 1% of its bachelor's degrees in every one of Carnegie Mellon University's 3 largest subjects; a special-focus school (a conservatory, art school, seminary, or the like) is compared only with schools of the same focus; and colleges with a strong religious mission are compared only with each other. Yield and graduation rate count as the same when they are less than 4 points apart; sticker price when it is within 10%. Better cost means cheaper. Sticker price is before financial aid, and for public colleges is the average of the in-state and out-of-state prices.