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List of presidents of the United States by education

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Most presidents of the United States received a college education, even most of the earliest. Of the first seven presidents, five were college graduates. College degrees have set the presidents apart from the general population, and presidents have held degrees even though it was quite rare and unnecessary for practicing most occupations, including law. Of the 45 individuals to have been the president, 24 graduated from a private undergraduate college, 9 graduated from a public undergraduate college, and 12 held no degree. Every president since 1953 has had a bachelor's degree, reflecting the increasing importance of higher education in the United States.

List by university attended

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Did not graduate from college

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Undergraduate

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School Location President(s)
Allegheny College Meadville, Pennsylvania
Amherst College Amherst, Massachusetts
Bowdoin College Brunswick, Maine
Capital Business College Salem, Oregon
College of William & Mary Williamsburg, Virginia
Columbia University New York, New York
Davidson College Davidson, North Carolina
Dickinson College Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Eureka College Eureka, Illinois
Fordham University Bronx, New York
Georgetown University Washington, D.C.
Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia Southwestern State University Americus, Georgia
Hampden–Sydney College Hampden Sydney, Virginia
Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts
Hiram College Hiram, Ohio
Kenyon College Gambier, Ohio
London School of Economics[a] London, United Kingdom
Miami University Oxford, Ohio
University of Mount Union[b] Alliance, Ohio
Occidental College Los Angeles, California
Ohio Central College Iberia, Ohio
University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom
Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey
Texas State University[c] San Marcos, Texas
Spalding's Commercial College Kansas City, Missouri
Stanford University Stanford, California
Leiden University Leiden, Netherlands
Union College Schenectady, New York
United States Military Academy West Point, New York
United States Naval Academy Annapolis, Maryland
University of Delaware Newark, Delaware
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill[d] Chapel Hill, North Carolina
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Whittier College Whittier, California
Williams College Williamstown, Massachusetts
Yale University New Haven, Connecticut
  1. ^ Kennedy enrolled, but did not attend.
  2. ^ Known during McKinley's attendance as Mount Union College.
  3. ^ Known during Johnson's attendance as Southwest Texas State Teachers College.
  4. ^ Known as the University of North Carolina until 1963. Since 1972, the "University of North Carolina" name has applied to the state's public university system.

Additional undergraduate information

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Some presidents attended more than one institution. George Washington never attended college, though The College of William & Mary did issue him a surveyor's certificate.[7] One president attended a foreign college at the undergraduate level: John Quincy Adams at Leiden University (John F. Kennedy intended to study at the London School of Economics, but failed to attend as he fell ill before classes began.) Bill Clinton won a Rhodes Scholarship, enrolling at the University of Oxford in Fall 1968, where he read for a B.Phil in politics. He left Oxford without earning a degree in order to enroll at Yale Law School.

Three presidents have attended the United States Service academies: Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight D. Eisenhower graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, while Jimmy Carter graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. No presidents have graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy or the much newer U.S. Air Force Academy. Eisenhower also graduated from the Army Command and General Staff College, Army Industrial College and Army War College. These were not degree-granting institutions when Eisenhower attended, but were part of his professional education as a career soldier.

Graduate school

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A total of 20 presidents attended some form of graduate school (including professional schools). Among them, eleven presidents received a graduate degree during their lifetimes; two more received graduate degrees posthumously.

Business school

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School Location President(s)
Harvard Business School Boston, Massachusetts

Graduate school

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School Location President(s)
Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts
Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland

Medical school

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School Location President(s)
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Law school

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School Location President(s)
Albany Law School Albany, New York
Columbia Law School New York, New York
Duke University School of Law Durham, North Carolina
Georgetown University Law Center Washington, D.C.
Harvard Law School Cambridge, Massachusetts
Kansas City Law School
(now University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law) 		Kansas City, Missouri
University of Michigan Law School Ann Arbor, Michigan
Northampton Law School Northampton, Massachusetts
State and National Law School Ballston Spa, New York
Syracuse University College of Law Syracuse, New York
University of Cincinnati College of Law Cincinnati, Ohio
University of Virginia School of Law Charlottesville, Virginia
Yale Law School New Haven, Connecticut

Several presidents who were lawyers did not attend law school, but became lawyers after independent study under the tutelage of established attorneys.[8] Some had attended college before beginning their legal studies, and several studied law without first having attended college. Presidents who were lawyers but did not attend law school include: John Adams; Thomas Jefferson; James Madison; James Monroe; John Quincy Adams; Andrew Jackson; Martin Van Buren; John Tyler; James K. Polk; Millard Fillmore; James Buchanan; Abraham Lincoln; James A. Garfield; Grover Cleveland; Benjamin Harrison; and Calvin Coolidge.

Presidents who were admitted to the bar after a combination of law school and independent study include; Franklin Pierce; Chester A. Arthur; William McKinley; and Woodrow Wilson.

List by graduate degree earned

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Ph.D. (research doctorate)

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School Location President(s)
Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland

M.B.A. (Master of Business Administration)

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School Location President(s)
Harvard Business School Boston, Massachusetts

M.A. (Master of Arts)

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School Location President(s)
Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts

Note: John Adams and John Quincy Adams, along with George W. Bush are the only presidents to date to attain master's degrees.

J.D. or LL.B. (law)

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School Location President(s)
University of Cincinnati College of Law Cincinnati, Ohio
Duke University School of Law Durham, North Carolina
Yale Law School New Haven, Connecticut
Harvard Law School Cambridge, Massachusetts
Syracuse University College of Law Syracuse, New York
Columbia Law School[9] New York, New York

Note: Hayes, Taft, Nixon and Ford were awarded LL.B. degrees.[10][11][12][13] When most U.S. law schools began to award the J.D. as the professional degree in law during the 1960s, previous graduates had the choice of converting their LL.B. degrees to a J.D.[14][15] Duke University Law School made the change in 1968,[16] and Yale Law School in 1971.[17]

List by president

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Presidents High school or equivalent Undergraduate school Graduate school
George Washington Lower Church School none none
John Adams Braintree Latin School Harvard University Harvard University (A.M.)[18]
Thomas Jefferson James Maury's School The College of William and Mary none
James Madison Donald Robertson's School Princeton University none
James Monroe Campbelltown Academy The College of William and Mary (did not graduate) none
John Quincy Adams Passy Academy Leiden University (transferred)
Harvard University 		Harvard University (A.M.)[19]
Andrew Jackson William Humphries' Academy
James White Stephenson's Academy 		none none
Martin Van Buren Kinderhook Academy
Washington Seminary 		none none
William Henry Harrison Millfield Academy Hampden–Sydney College (withdrew) University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (withdrew)
John Tyler College of William and Mary Preparatory School The College of William and Mary none
James K. Polk Zion Presbyterian Church Academy
Bradley Academy 		University of North Carolina (now University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) none
Zachary Taylor Kean O'Hara's Academy[20] none none
Millard Fillmore New Hope Academy none none
Franklin Pierce Phillips Exeter Academy Bowdoin College Northampton Law School (withdrew)
James Buchanan Old Stone Academy Dickinson College none
Abraham Lincoln Briefly attended schools in Hardin County, Kentucky and Spencer County, Indiana none none
Andrew Johnson Tutored while an apprentice tailor and by his wife none none
Ulysses S. Grant Maysville Academy United States Military Academy none
Rutherford B. Hayes Norwalk Seminary
The Webb School 		Kenyon College Harvard Law School
James Garfield Geauga Seminary Hiram College (transferred)
Williams College 		none
Chester A. Arthur Schenectady Lyceum and Academy Union College State and National Law School (did not graduate)
Grover Cleveland Clinton Academy none none
Benjamin Harrison Farmers' College Miami University none
William McKinley Poland Academy Allegheny College (withdrew)
Mount Union College (now University of Mount Union; withdrew) 		Albany Law School (withdrew)
Theodore Roosevelt Schooled at home by parents and private tutors Harvard University Columbia Law School (withdrew) (awarded J.D. in 2008, class of 1882)
William Howard Taft Woodward High School Yale University University of Cincinnati College of Law
Woodrow Wilson Schooled at home by parents and private tutors Davidson College (transferred)
Princeton University 		University of Virginia School of Law (withdrew)
Johns Hopkins University Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences (Ph.D.)
Warren G. Harding Caledonia High School Ohio Central College none
Calvin Coolidge Black River Academy
St. Johnsbury Academy 		Amherst College none
Herbert Hoover Friends Pacific Academy (now George Fox University) Capital Business College (attended)
Stanford University 		none
Franklin D. Roosevelt Groton School Harvard University Columbia Law School (withdrew) (awarded J.D. in 2008, class of 1907)
Harry S. Truman Independence High School Spalding's Commercial College (withdrew) Kansas City Law School (now University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law) (withdrew)
Dwight D. Eisenhower Abilene High School United States Military Academy (West Point) United States Army Command and General Staff College
United States Army Industrial College
United States Army War College
John F. Kennedy Dexter School
The Choate School 		London School of Economics (General Course Program)
Princeton University (transferred)
Harvard University
 Stanford Graduate School of Business (auditor)
Lyndon B. Johnson Johnson City High School Southwest Texas State Teachers College (now Texas State University) Georgetown University Law Center (withdrew)
Richard Nixon Whittier High School Whittier College Duke University School of Law
Gerald Ford Grand Rapids South High School University of Michigan University of Michigan Law School (transferred)
Yale Law School
Jimmy Carter Plains High School Georgia Southwestern College (transferred)
Georgia Institute of Technology (transferred)
United States Naval Academy 		Union College (Postgraduate Nuclear Physics Course Program)
Ronald Reagan Dixon High School Eureka College none
George H. W. Bush Phillips Academy Yale University none
Bill Clinton Hot Springs High School Georgetown University
University of Oxford (Rhodes Scholar; withdrew)
Yale Law School (J.D.)
George W. Bush Phillips Academy Yale University Harvard Business School (M.B.A.)
Barack Obama Punahou School Occidental College (transferred)
Columbia University 		Harvard Law School (J.D.)
Donald Trump New York Military Academy Fordham University (transferred)
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania 		none
Joe Biden Archmere Academy University of Delaware Syracuse University College of Law (J.D.)

Other academic associations

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Faculty member

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President(s) School Position Years
James A. Garfield Hiram College Professor of Latin, Greek, Mathematics, History, Philosophy, Rhetoric and English literature 1857–1861[21]
Grover Cleveland Princeton University Stafford Little Lecturer on Public Affairs 1899–1908[22]
William Howard Taft University of Cincinnati College of Law Dean 1896–1900[23]
Yale Law School Kent Professor of Law 1913–1921
Boston University School of Law Lecturer on Legal Ethics[24] 1918–1921
Woodrow Wilson Bryn Mawr College Professor of Politics and History 1885–1888[25]
Wesleyan University Professor of Politics 1888–1890[25]
Princeton University Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Economy 1890–1902
Harry S. Truman Yale University Chubb Fellow Visiting Lecturer 1958[26]
Canisius College Visiting Lecturer 1962[27]
Richard Nixon Whittier College Adjunct lecturer, taught undergraduate legal studies class 1937–1942
Jimmy Carter Emory University University Distinguished Professor 1982–present
George H. W. Bush Rice University Part-Time Professor of Administrative Science 1978
Bill Clinton University of Arkansas Assistant Professor of Law[28] 1973–1977
Barack Obama University of Chicago Law School Senior Lecturer[29] 1992–2004
Joe Biden Widener University Delaware Law School Adjunct Professor[30] 1991–2008
University of Pennsylvania Benjamin Franklin Presidential Practice professor[31] 2017–2019

School rector or president

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President(s) School Position Years
Thomas Jefferson University of Virginia 1st rector 1819–1826
James Madison University of Virginia 2nd rector 1826–1836
Millard Fillmore University at Buffalo Chancellor 1846–1874
James A. Garfield Hiram College President 1857–1860
Woodrow Wilson Princeton University President 1902–1910
Dwight D. Eisenhower Columbia University President 1948–1953

School trustee or governor

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President(s) School Position Years
George Washington College of William and Mary Chancellor 1788–1799
Washington College Allowed use of his name, Benefactor, Board of Governors 1782–1799
George Washington University Left shares in his will to establish a university in the District of Columbia 1799
Washington and Lee University Benefactor[32] 1796
Thomas Jefferson University of Virginia Board of Visitors 1819–1826
James Madison University of Virginia Board of Visitors 1819–1836
Madison College (Pennsylvania) Allowed use of his name; benefactor: contributed funds ($2,000 in 1827 dollars) towards founding[33] 1827
James Monroe George Washington University Benefactor 1821
University of Virginia Board of Visitors 1826–1831
John Quincy Adams Harvard University Board of Overseers 1830–1848
George Washington University Benefactor, Board of Trustees 1832
Andrew Jackson University of Nashville Board of Trustees 1806–1845[34]
Martin Van Buren University of the State of New York Board of Regents 1816–1829
John Tyler College of William and Mary Chancellor 1859–1862
Ulysses S. Grant George Washington University Board of Trustees 1869–1877
Millard Fillmore University at Buffalo Chancellor 1846–1874
Franklin Pierce Norwich University Board of Trustees 1841–1859
James Buchanan Franklin & Marshall College President, Board of Trustees 1853–1865
Rutherford B. Hayes Ohio State University Board of Trustees 1881–1893
Western Reserve University Chairman of the Board of Trustees 1881–1893
Ohio Wesleyan University Board of Trustees 1884–1893
James A. Garfield Hiram College Board of Trustees 1866–1881
Hampton University Board of Trustees 1877–1881
Benjamin Harrison Purdue University Board of Trustees 1895–1901
Grover Cleveland Princeton University Board of Trustees 1901–1908
William McKinley American University Board of Trustees 1899–1901
Theodore Roosevelt American University Board of Trustees 1900–1919
Harvard University Board of Overseers 1895–1901, 1915–1916
William Howard Taft Yale University Member of the Yale Corporation 1901–1913
Hampton University Board of Trustees 1909–1930
Warren G. Harding American University Board of Trustees 1921–1923
Calvin Coolidge Amherst College Board of Trustees (life member) 1921–1933
Herbert Hoover Stanford University Board of Trustees 1923–1960
American University Board of Trustees 1945–1950
Franklin D. Roosevelt Harvard University Board of Overseers 1917–1923
Vassar College Board of Trustees 1923–1945
Dwight D. Eisenhower Eisenhower College Namesake, fundraiser 1965–1969
John F. Kennedy Harvard University Board of Overseers 1957–1958
Jimmy Carter Mercer University Board of Trustees 2012–present
Ronald Reagan Eureka College Board of Trustees 1947–1953, 1967–1973, 1974–1980

See also

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Other countries

References

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  1. ^ "George Washington's Mount Vernon - Facts & Falsehoods about George Washington". Archived from the original on 2008-11-01. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
  2. ^ Freehling, William (October 4, 2016). "William Henry Harrison: Impact and Legacy". Charlottesville, Virginia: Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia.
  3. ^ "William Harrison: Life Before the Presidency | Miller Center". millercenter.org. 4 October 2016. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  4. ^ Owens, Robert M. (2007). Mr. Jefferson's Hammer: William Henry Harrison and the Origins of American Indian Policy. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3842-8.
  5. ^ "People Who Knew Hoover". Capital Journal. Salem, Oregon. 1920-03-04. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  6. ^ "History-Bill Clinton". BBC. Retrieved Nov 14, 2024.
  7. ^ "George Washington's Professional Surveys". U.S. National Archives. 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  8. ^ "Lincoln Legal Career Timeline". Abraham Lincoln Online.org. Abraham Lincoln Online. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  9. ^ Kelly, Erin St. John (September 25, 2008). "Presidents Roosevelt Awarded Posthumous J.D.s". Columbia Law School News. New York, NY: Columbia Law School.
  10. ^ Hoogenboom, Ari (1995). Rutherford Hayes: Warrior and President. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. pp. 52–53. ISBN 978-0-7006-0641-2.
  11. ^ "William Howard Taft". Laws.com. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  12. ^ Gellman, Irwin F. (2017). The Contender: Richard Nixon, the Congress Years, 1946–1952. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-300-22020-9.
  13. ^ "Gerald R. Ford Biography". Fordlibrarymuseum.gov/. Grand rapids, MI: Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  14. ^ Bear, John (2001). Bear's Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press. p. 257. ISBN 978-1-58008-202-0.
  15. ^ Hylton, J. Gordon (January 11, 2012). "Why the Law Degree is Called a J.D. and not an LL.B." Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog. Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University.
  16. ^ Bolich, W. Bryan (1968). Duke Law School 1868–1968: A Sketch (PDF). Durham, NC: Duke University Law School. p. xxiv.
  17. ^ Mwenda, Kenneth Kaoma (2007). Comparing American and British Legal Education Systems. Youngstown, NY: Cambria Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-934-043-51-6.
  18. ^ Ryerson, Richard (5 October 2016). "John Adams at Harvard". Harvard Magazine. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Obama joins list of seven presidents with Harvard degrees". Harvard Gazette. 6 November 2008. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  20. ^ Johnston, J. Stoddard (1913). "Sketch of Theodore O'Hara". The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. Frankfort, KY: State Journal Company. p. 67.
  21. ^ Joseph Nathan Kane, Facts About the Presidents (New York: Simon & Schuster [Pocket Books], 1968 [5th printing]), 194.
  22. ^ Leitch, Alexander (1978). "Biography, Grover Cleveland". A Princeton Companion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
  23. ^ UC.edu Archived 2006-04-28 at the Wayback Machine
  24. ^ "BU School of Law Timeline". Boston University. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  25. ^ a b Biography of Wilson on Princeton Web.
  26. ^ Robert H. Ferrell, Farewell to the Chief: Former Presidents in American Public Life, 1991, page 52
  27. ^ U.S. Government Printing Office, Congressional Record, Volume 108, Part 4, 1962, page 5168.
  28. ^ Kaczynski, Andrew; Apper, Megan (February 2, 2015). "Here's Bill Clinton's Personnel File From His Time As An Arkansas College Professor". buzzfeednews.com/. New York, NY: Buzzfeednews.com.
  29. ^ "Statement regarding Barack Obama". University of Chicago Law School. March 27, 2008. Archived from the original on June 8, 2008. Retrieved June 5, 2008.
  30. ^ Carey, Kathleen E. (August 27, 2008). "Widener students proud of Biden". Daily Times. Denver, CO: MediaNews Group, Inc.
  31. ^ Shelbourne, Talis (October 15, 2020). "Fact Check: Was Joe Biden Ever a 'Professor in College'?". Heavy.com. New York, NY.
  32. ^ "History :: Washington and Lee University". Archived from the original on 2013-01-03. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  33. ^ Reynolds, G.T. (1902). "Madison College". In Haskins, Charles Homer; Hull, William Isaac (eds.). A History of Higher Education in Pennsylvania. Government Printing Office. pp. 155–7. Madison College Pennsylvania.
  34. ^ University of Nashville Board of Trustees (1892). The University of Nashville, 1785 to 1892. Nashville, TN: Marshall & Bruce. p. 5. Note: In 1791, Jackson was appointed to the board of trustees of Davidson Academy. Jackson continued on the board when the school was reorganized as Cumberland College in 1806. In 1826, Cumberland College was reincorporated as the University of Nashville, and Jackson remained a member of the board of trustees until his death.
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