Students find various ways of financing education at Carnegie Mellon, including external scholarships, Federal Stafford Loans (for US citizens), university employment, or payment in full by the student.
Teaching assistantships are sometimes available to students. Generally, these assistantships are available in the Spring semester only. The assistantship covers only a part of the cost of tuition.
Students that are employed may study part-time.
Many organizations award external scholarships for Carnegie Mellon students. Students may also finance the cost of education through government secured Stafford Loans. Two other methods involve working for the university in some capacity. Employment is generally available only to students already on campus and these methods usually extend the time required to complete the degree. Some students are able to pay their tuition in full. This method is the most cost effective from a long term point of view.
For more information on graduate student financial aid please visit the financial aid website.
The MSIT VLIS program is part of the CMU School of Computer Science. The program tuition rates are matched each year to rates of the School of Computer Science. Tuition rates are stated as a Fall/Spring per semester tuition, plus an additional summer semester tuition. See the tuition summary for an estimate for the current year. Select the School of Computer Science link for an estimate of the total cost of attendance (of which tuition is only a part). Select the summer graduate tuition and cost of attendance link for an estimate of the total cost of attendance during the summer. These figures increase every academic year. New students should factor in an approximately 5% increase per year into any budget computation.
Here is an example computation for a student graduating in 16 months,
starting in the Fall of 2008.
| Cost | Fall | Spring | Cost | Fall |
| Tuition | 17,500 | 17,500 | Tuition (est) | 18,375 |
| Activity Fee | 88 | 88 | Activity Fee (est) | 92 |
| Room (est) | 2,974 | 2,974 | Room (est) | 3,122 |
| Board (est) | 2,099 | 2,099 | Board (est) | 2,204 |
| Books and Supplies | 644 | 644 | Books and Supplies (est) | 676 |
| Health Insurance | 451 | 451 | Health Insurance (est) | 474 |
| Personal and Misc.(est) | 701 | 701 | Personal and Misc. (est) | 736 |
| Transportation (est) | 326 | 326 | Transportation (est) | 342 |
| PAT Fee | 78 | 39 | PAT Fee (est) | 41 |
| Technology Fee | 75 | 75 | Technology Fee (est) | 79 |
| TOTAL | 24,896 | 24,896 | TOTAL | 26,141 |
Students of the MSIT-VLIS program must also provide their own laptop computer.
Students taking less than 36 units per semester are considered part-time. Part-time students are charged per unit. The per unit fee changes each year, see the link above for more information. Courses are typically 12 units.