QS ranking profile
Carnegie Mellon University
This page presents clearly labeled QS ranking data for orientation. It does not verify programs, supervisors, funding, admission requirements, or the university's website.
- QS 2026 rank
- #52
- Up 6 places since 2025
- QS 2025 rank
- #58
- Overall score
- 82.3
Explore opportunities at Carnegie Mellon University
Browse active research positions, doctoral fellowships, and university funding calls indexed from official faculties and verified sources.
QS indicators
Reported ranking indicators
Each indicator is scored out of 100 in the same QS snapshot as the summary above.
#98 worldwide
#52 worldwide
#370 worldwide
#43 worldwide
#426 worldwide
#77 worldwide
#245 worldwide
#364 worldwide
#161 worldwide
#375 worldwide
Institution profile
How QS classifies this institution
QS groups institutions by size, subject range, and research output.
- Size
- Large
- About 12,000 to 30,000 students
- Subject range
- Focused
- Teaches a limited range of faculty areas
- Research intensity
- Very high
- Very high research output in the QS classification
- Region
- Americas
- QS regional grouping
University profile
About Carnegie Mellon University
Editorial background written for orientation. Verify programs, funding, and admission on the university's official pages.
A structure built around schools and connections between them
Carnegie Mellon University presents its academic setting through seven colleges and schools: engineering, fine arts, humanities and social science, information systems and public policy, science, computer science, and business. Its academic pages also highlight interdisciplinary programmes. For a STEM applicant, this is a useful reminder that a technical research question may span distinct academic homes. A computing topic may connect with engineering, science, policy, design, or a specialised institute. The first task is to identify the school or department that provides the academic route, then look for the groups and researchers whose current work is closest to the question that motivates you.
The university's research and creativity material describes work across areas including artificial intelligence, robotics, energy, learning science, cybersecurity, privacy, and health-related research. It also points to facilities and cross-disciplinary projects. These pages help a reader see that research is not limited to one subject label. They do not mean that every unit works in every area. When exploring a possible fit, use the broad research page to find relevant terms, then verify them in the official pages of the school, department, centre, or laboratory that appears to host the work. This keeps the research process grounded in a real academic unit rather than a general institutional story.
Looking beyond a familiar subject label
CMU's public pages emphasise work that brings disciplines together. That has particular value when someone works across fields, but it requires careful checking. A topic such as AI, robotics, data, security, or human-centred technology can have different meanings depending on the group that uses it. One team may focus on theory, another on systems, another on applications, and another on the social or policy implications. Read recent work, staff profiles, and group descriptions closely enough to distinguish those approaches. A fit is more convincing when you can explain which problem, method, or technical setting connects with your own background.
The academic pages also show undergraduate, master's, and graduate programme areas alongside schools and colleges. Do not infer the shape of a research route from the name of a field alone. Find the current programme page and see how it relates to the department or research group you have identified. This matters especially when an interdisciplinary theme appears across several schools. The local programme description can clarify the academic home, while current research material can reveal what is actively being studied. Keeping these two kinds of evidence separate makes your comparison more accurate.
Making a focused Carnegie Mellon shortlist entry
Start a Carnegie Mellon shortlist note with a defined research question and a small number of official pages. Identify the relevant school or department, then add one or two groups or researchers whose work is clearly related. Write down the connection in your own words: a method you have used, a technical problem you hope to study, or an area where you need further preparation. If the link relies only on the university's association with a broad field, it is not yet detailed enough to guide an informed choice.
University-level material is useful for understanding the range of schools and the value placed on cross-disciplinary work. The pages closest to your field should determine whether the route is genuinely relevant. Recheck current information as you narrow your list, since research groups and academic offerings change over time. The QS data above is a labelled university-level reference. It cannot measure the fit of a particular project, group, or research path. Build that judgement from current official information about the unit where you would actually work.