Carnegie Mellon graduates are beating national trends to succeed in a shifting job market,Ölanding careers in their desired fields.
Their achievements are the result of a decades-long focus on both the science of learning , and efforts by the university to create a supportive environment for students. In 2025, Forbes listed CMU as a top 15 college for starting a career. The Princeton Review marked it as the seventh best private university in America for career placement.
Degree value is reflected across CMU’s schools and colleges individually as well. Graduates from the Tepper School of Business are continuing to excel , with 83% of its most recent graduating class reporting a job offer within three months of graduation. This success comes even as MBA students struggle to get hired nationally.
The university ranks No. 1 in America for artificial intelligence, and students from the School of Computer Science make consistent marks on the field. Carnegie Mellon is among the top five most frequent alma maters of OpenAI employees, according to Business Insider.
Carnegie Mellon’s Career and Professional Development Center (CPDC) is devoted to setting graduates up for these successes.
"It’s the faculty, the advisers, the staff - everybody on this campus has conversations with students that help them launch their careers post-CMU," said Kevin Monahan, senior associate dean and director of the CPDC.
He added that CMU students are largely responsible for their own success, through taking initiative while they pursue their next chapter.
"We want our students and alumni to know their value, to know what they bring to an organization so they can articulate that - in their application documents, in the interview, when they’re negotiating salary," Monahan said. "We want them to empower them to be able to advocate for themselves."
CPDC’s First Destination (Post-Graduation) Outcomes dashboard shows where early career professionals arrive after graduating from Carnegie Mellon.
Before enrollment and beyond
Support at CMU begins before students even enroll, with the expansion of educational opportunity.
These efforts include the CMU Pathway Program , which offers tuition-free attendance to students from households earning under $75,000 annually. The program also offers loan-free attendance to those whose families earn $100,000 or less annually.
Others, like the Tartan Scholars and Rales Fellows programs, allow the university to bring in talented students from underrepresented or overlooked communities.
In recent years, the CPDC has focused on providing students with 24/7 interactive support. This includes digital tools such as the undergraduate-focused Career Launch. The center itself begins engaging new students approximately six weeks before the academic year starts, and students are encouraged to complete certain modules through the online platform before arriving on campus.
CareerEdge is a similar program currently geared toward master’s degree students in the School of Computer Science, College of Engineering and Mellon College of Science. The team says they plan to expand the program to help graduate students in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences , as well as the College of Fine Arts.
Tartan achievements in action
Joey McGinnis credits much of his recent success landing a job - which he’ll begin after graduating this May - to the CPDC. Originally hailing from High Point, North Carolina, McGinnis describes moving to Pittsburgh and stepping into his first year at CMU as a difficult adjustment.
A captain and starting quarterback for the Carnegie Mellon Tartans football team, McGinnis says he was fortunate to step into a community of like-minded, team-oriented individuals. His background in sports also gave him the chance to cross paths with the center before enrolling.
"My first interaction with the CPDC was when I met Kevin Monahan on my football game visit," McGinnis said. "He greeted me and my family, and told us about how the CPDC has a special unit for student-athletes. I made it a point to meet with him when I arrived at CMU, and have been with him regularly ever since. He’s been instrumental in my professional and career journey."
The journey since, McGinnis says, involved both hard work and open communication with those he has encountered along the way.
"I had significant career development over the course of my time in college," said the mechanical engineering senior. "I obtained three summer internships and attended several professional conventions. It wouldn’t have been possible without the help I received from the CPDC, as well as my mentors and colleagues."
This support system, in addition to his own efforts, gave him the tools he needed to build skills and confidence when transitioning into the job market.
"My network, I think, helped me beyond any measure that I could really fathom," McGinnis said. "It can be easy to stay in your shell, but being able to build a broad network opens doors for you that you may not have even known about."
Tapping into the CMU community and the resources provided, he was able to craft a college experience that also set him up for long-term career success.
"I’m indebted to a lot of people and programs for my success. Being on the CMU football team was an important part in shaping my mindset and mental fortitude, which helped me during my career journey." McGinnis also credits being part of the National Society of Black Engineers for creating a vital networking environment.
Championing student success
In January, the CPDC hosted an event showcasing Carnegie Mellon students like McGinnis, bringing alumni and employers back to the university to share stories of Tartan success with those who made it possible.
"Our team really focuses on lifelong career development," Monahan said during the event. "We want our students and alumni not just to be ready for that first job, but we want them to be ready for the job when they are 30, 40, 50 years old."
Monahan was joined by Marcie Foy, CPDC’s director of career consultants, and Sean McGowan, director of employer relations. The team explained that Carnegie Mellon’s interdisciplinary approach, particularly in fields like artificial intelligence, business and computer science, offers graduates an advantage in a cooling job market.
The staff members said that proactivity, empowerment, and trust are the driving forces behind their approach to career development at CMU. In addition to providing students with round-the-clock, interactive resources online, the center has also focused on equipping faculty and staff members with the tools they need to help support students professionally.
"We’re continuing to look ahead to being present in spaces where students are," Foy said. "That could be classrooms, it could be seminars, it could be holding office hours or open drop-ins in different spaces."
One initiative, the Career Champions Program , provides faculty and staff with training to give students resources for long-term success. The stated goal is to create an environment where students can hear career advice from those they work with and trust. Another, the Olitsky Program , gives career support to neurodivergent students.
"We’re trying to make sure that no matter how a student might feel comfortable interacting with us - in office, with their individual peer consultant, or just with the information that we’re putting out there - they have an avenue that’s going to fit their schedule, their needs, and their comfort level with asking for help," Foy said.
"I think that speaks to the character of the students that come here," Foy said, "that they’re willing and able to do the work to achieve their goals. We’re just here to make sure that they have every avenue in which to do it."
The outcomes also show the strong relationships CMU has built with employers through quality alumni, McGowan added. "For our student population, alumni are more important than they ever were, because as recruiting teams shrink and companies target fewer schools, we need champions out there in these companies that are going to advocate for Tartans," he said.
