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Carnegie Mellon University Practicum Partner, 2024
Institute of Algorithmic Tradingand Applied Computational Finance

Admissions office

Scholarships and financial aid

The Institute makes a small number of need-based awards each intake, on three programs, to students who could not otherwise study. An award is decided on documented evidence of financial hardship. It is not a discount, and it is not negotiated.

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Most people who ask about a scholarship are really asking for a better price. The Institute already gives one, to everyone, without an application.

Every credential is a bundle. A certificate, a diploma or the Fellowship costs less than the same courses bought alone, and the larger the program, the larger the saving. The figure is printed on every program page, next to the price of the courses bought alone. If you came here looking for value for money, choose a credential instead of single courses. That is the saving the Institute recommends.

You can also take a smaller step. A certificate costs a fraction of a diploma and counts toward it. Each course earns its own certificate along the way, so nothing you pass is wasted when you move up.

If an employer may pay, ask them before you apply. An enrollment can be invoiced to an organization in your name.

Who pays for an award

Every award is paid for by other people: by the students who pay the full fee, and by the organizations that sponsor places at the Institute. A place given at a reduced fee is a place someone else has funded.

That is why the awards are few, and why they go only to applicants who show, with documents, that they could not study otherwise. Think hard about whether that describes you. If you can pay the fee, even if it takes you some months to save it, please pay it. You will be the reason someone in real need can study.

Who can apply

Scholarships and financial aid exist on three programs only:

No award is made on single courses, tracks or certificates. Those are already priced to be within reach.

An applicant must be in serious and documented financial hardship. Examples the admissions office recognizes: a household income that is low for the country you live in, unemployment, displacement or refugee status, a disability or long illness that limits your earnings, or responsibility as the main carer for a dependent. A statement without evidence is not enough.

What you send

Everything below, in one email, as PDF files. An incomplete application is closed without review, and you may apply again at the next intake.

  1. Personal statement, 600 to 1,000 words, written by you. Describe your circumstances, what you have studied so far, what you will do with the program, and why you cannot pay the fee. Name the one program you are applying for.
  2. Financial statement: everyone in your household, the monthly income of each earning member, monthly outgoings, savings, and every other grant, scholarship or loan you have applied for, with its outcome.
  3. Evidence of income for every earning member of the household: payslips or benefit statements for the last three months, and the most recent tax return or tax assessment. If you have no income, an official document that shows it, such as registration as unemployed.
  4. Evidence of circumstance: an official document for each hardship you describe, such as refugee or residence papers, a medical or disability certificate, or a letter from a social services office.
  5. Proof of identity: a passport or national identity card. The name must match every other document.
  6. Record of study: transcripts or certificates of your earlier education, and any course you have completed in finance, statistics or programming.
  7. One letter of reference from a teacher, employer, or community or public official who knows your circumstances. It must be on letterhead, signed, and carry the referee’s contact details. The referee sends it directly to the admissions office; a letter sent by the applicant is not accepted.

Documents that are not in English must come with a certified translation.

Send the application to [email protected] with the subject line Scholarship application: program name, your full name, and name each file by its number and title, for example 3 Evidence of income.pdf. Your referee uses the same subject line.

Apply before you confirm an order for the program. Do not enroll first and apply afterwards.

How the decision is made

The admissions office reads every complete application against the evidence. It decides in writing, with no interview and no call, and it does not discuss a decision once made.

  • A small number of awards are made each intake, and most applications are declined.
  • The amount of an award is set by the admissions office case by case. It is never the full fee and it is not published.
  • An award covers the one program named in the application. It cannot be moved to another program, another person or a later intake.
  • If an award is made, the letter states the fee you pay, and your invoice is issued at that fee.
  • An award holder keeps one included retake per course instead of three.
  • An award made on information that turns out to be false is withdrawn, and the full fee becomes due.

If you are unsure whether to apply, the answer is usually that the right credential, bought at its bundle price, is the better route. Compare the credentials.