<p>Just to chime in here - my son got a nice merit scholarship from CMU, and it definitely lasted all four years. I haven’t heard of scholarships or financial aid disappearing without good reason. In addition, he was able to earn some money tutoring starting sophomore year. Many students also get apartments starting sophomore year, which saves on room and board since Pittsburgh is considerably cheaper than New York, for instance. So people should not be afraid to apply to CMU just because of the money.</p>