Ph.D. Program in Machine Learning
Carnegie Mellon University's doctoral program in machine learning is designed to train students to become tomorrow's leaders through a combination of interdisciplinary coursework, hands-on applications and cutting-edge research. Graduates of the machine learning Ph.D. program are uniquely positioned to pioneer new developments in the field and to be leaders in both industry and academia.
Understanding the most effective ways to use the vast amount of data now being stored is a significant challenge to society — and therefore to science and technology — as it seeks to obtain a return on the huge investment being made in computerization and data collection. Advances in the development of automated techniques for data analysis and decision-making require interdisciplinary work in areas such as machine learning algorithms and foundations, statistics, complexity theory, optimization, data mining, and more.
The Ph.D. Program in Machine Learning is for students interested in machine learning research. Contact us with questions and concerns.
The Ph.D. program is a full-time, in-person commitment and is not offered online or part-time.
Ph.D. Requirements
Financial Support
It will be our responsibility, not yours, to worry about your tuition and stipend while you are in our program. We are committed to providing you with full tuition and stipend support for the coming academic year. We intend to continue this support as long as you make satisfactory progress in our program. Students who do not have external financial support will be funded via graduate assistantships, awarded for a nine-month period from September to May, which would normally come from their adviser’s grants. Because of that, specific research opportunities may be constrained by funding availability. Students who have partial external financial support will be supplemented to bring them to the full level of support, and often receive an additional supplement on top of that. If you have dependents, we will also pay you a dependency allowance that is 10% of the MLD monthly base stipend per eligible dependent, unless you have a spouse or qualifying domestic partner who earns more than $500 per month.
Application Information
Application Information
For applicants applying in fall 2024 for a start date of August 2025, GRE scores are OPTIONAL.
The committee uses GRE scores to gauge quantitative skills, and to a lesser extent, also verbal skills.
Proof of English Language Proficiency
If you will be studying on an F-1 or J-1 visa, and English is not your native language ("native language" meaning spoken at home and from birth), we are required to formally evaluate your English proficiency. We require applicants who will be studying on an F-1 or J-1 visa, and for whom English is not a native language, to demonstrate English proficiency via one of these standardized tests: TOEFL (preferred), IELTS or Duolingo.
We do not issue waivers for nonnative speakers of English. In particular, we do not issue waivers based on previous study at a U.S. high school, college or university. We also do not issue waivers based on previous study at an English-language high school, college or university outside the United States. No amount of educational experience in English, regardless of which country it occurred in, will result in a test waiver.
Additional details about English proficiency requirements are provided on the FAQ page.