Program Overview

Master of Language Technologies Program

The Master of Language Technologies (MLT) program is a two-year, research-focused Master's program intended to prepare students for a Ph.D. program, whether it be at the LTI or elsewhere.

Overview

The MLT program prepares students for a research career in academia or industry. In this program, students will be immersed in research for two full years. During the academic year, their time will be evenly split between taking courses and doing research with their faculty advisor. Their summer will be devoted entirely to research. Many MLT graduates continue on to Ph.D. programs at CMU and other top institutions, while others pursue careers at companies emphasizing research and rapid innovation.

Requirements

The MLT program lasts two years (24 months), and students must complete two summers of research. Students should usually expect to graduate in August of their second year.

• MLT students take 120 or more course units (about 10 courses), at least 72 of which are LTI courses, and 24 of which are School of Computer Science (SCS) courses.
  • Most of these are 12-unit courses, although lab courses are typically 6 units.
  • Our courses generally assume knowledge of programming and data structures.
• The remaining units may also be taken from the LTI, or with approval from the faculty advisor, any other senior- or graduate-level course offered at CMU or Pitt.
• Directed research is another integral part of the MLT program; MLT students carry out directed research during their studies, with guidance from their faculty advisors.
• Students may also choose to complete an optional MLT thesis.

Curriculum

Here's an example of how the two years in the MLT program may break down.

| Fall |Spring |Summer
---|---|---|---
Year 1 | Grammars and Lexicons Algorithms for NLP Directed Study | Search Engines or Machine Learning for Text Mining Machine Translation Self-Paced Lab Directed Study | Required Research
Year 2 | Software Engineering for LT (I) Speech Understanding Self-Paced Lab Directed Study | Software Engineering for LT (II) Directed Study Elective | Required Research

Course Categories

See the MLT and 5LT Course Categories page for more information.

Admissions

• The School of Computer Science has a centralized online application process.
• Applications and all supporting documentation for fall admission to any of the LTI's graduate programs must be received by the application deadline.
• Incomplete applications will not be considered.
• The application window for the Fall 2026 admissions cycle will open on September 3, 2025.
• Application deadlines can be found on the SCS Graduate Admissions Page.
• Application fees are $80 for early applications and $100 after the early deadline.
• Fee waivers are available within the application for those who may experience financial hardship.
• Requirements for graduate program applications include:
  • GRE scores: Optional, but if submitted, must be less than five years old.
  • TOEFL scores: Required if English is not the applicant's native language, with a minimum score of 100.
  • Official transcripts from each university attended.
  • Current resume.
  • Statement of Purpose.
  • Three letters of recommendation.
• Additional requirements specific to the LTI include:
  • Any outside funding must be accompanied by an official award letter.
  • A video essay is optional but strongly recommended.

Tuition

• Tuition rates are set by the School of Computer Science and can vary by year.
• Current tuition rates can be found on the Graduate Tuition section of the Student Financial Services website.
• Financial aid resources include research assistantships, which are occasionally offered by research advisors to current MLT students.
• Student Financial Services has additional information on financial aid and billing/payments.

Program Details

For a complete breakdown of the MLT program and its policies, including information about internships, please refer to the MLT Handbook.