Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) plans to establish a new campus in Miami backed by $2 billion from Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin, part of a $3 billion gift the university described as the largest individual donation in higher education history.
The planned Carnegie Mellon University Miami campus would be built on more than 35 acres in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, with construction scheduled to begin in 2027. The university expects the first students to enroll in 2028, pending regulatory approvals.
Of Griffin’s $3 billion gift, $1 billion will support Carnegie Mellon’s existing Pittsburgh campus. That includes $500 million for university priorities and $500 million for its School of Computer Science, which will be renamed the Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science. The remaining $2 billion will support the launch of the Miami campus.
Once completed, the campus is expected to serve more than 3,500 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students, along with nearly 300 faculty members and more than 600 staff members. Plans include industry research laboratories and venture studios intended to support collaboration among students, faculty, businesses and community partners.
Carnegie Mellon said the Miami campus will differ from a traditional university structure by organizing education and research around broad societal challenges rather than primarily around academic majors. Initial areas of focus will include human health and biological discovery, national security and strategic capabilities, energy and climate resilience, and advanced manufacturing and industrial transformation.
“We are deeply grateful to Ken Griffin for his extraordinary vision, partnership and belief in what Carnegie Mellon can achieve,” said CMU President Farnam Jahanian. “Together, we have an opportunity to extend the very qualities that have long distinguished Carnegie Mellon — our agility, creativity, interdisciplinary culture and relentless focus on impact — to build a new model for higher education that meets the urgency of this moment.”
The university said the Miami location is intended to become a comprehensive campus rather than a limited satellite operation.
