List of presidents of the United States by education
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates 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. 16 presidents received a Bachelor's or advanced degree from colleges in the Ivy League.
List by university attendedEdit
Did not graduate from collegeEdit
- George Washington (The death of Washington's father ended his formal schooling. The College of William & Mary issued surveying licenses in Virginia, and Washington received his license from the College in 1749 — surveyors did not attend classes at the school. Washington believed strongly in formal education, and his will left money and/or stocks to support three educational institutions, including George Washington University and Washington and Lee University)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- James Monroe (attended the College of William & Mary, but dropped out to fight in the Revolutionary War)
- Andrew Jackson
- Martin Van Buren
- William Henry Harrison (attended Hampden–Sydney College for three years but did not graduate and then attended University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine but never received a degree)<ref>Freehling, William (October 4, 2016). "William Henry Harrison: Impact and Legacy". Charlottesville, Virginia: Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia.</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- Zachary Taylor
- Millard Fillmore (founded the University at Buffalo)
- Abraham Lincoln (had only about a year of formal schooling of any kind)
- Andrew Johnson (no formal schooling of any kind)
- Grover Cleveland
- William McKinley (attended Allegheny College, but did not graduate; also attended Albany Law School, but also did not graduate)
- Harry S. Truman (went to business college and law school, but did not graduate)
UndergraduateEdit
Additional undergraduate informationEdit
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 BPhil 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 United States 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 schoolEdit
A total of 21 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 schoolEdit
| School | Location | President(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Harvard Business School | Boston, Massachusetts | |
| Stanford Business School | Stanford, California |
|
Graduate schoolEdit
| School | Location | President(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Harvard University | Cambridge, Massachusetts |
|
| Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, Maryland |
Medical schoolEdit
| School | Location | President(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Medical Department of University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
|
Law schoolEdit
Several presidents who were lawyers did not attend law school, but became lawyers after independent study under the tutelage of established attorneys.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 earnedEdit
Ph.D. (research doctorate)Edit
| School | Location | President(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, Maryland |
M.B.A. (Master of Business Administration)Edit
| School | Location | President(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Harvard Business School | Boston, Massachusetts |
M.A. (Master of Arts)Edit
| 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)Edit
Note: Hayes, Taft, Nixon and Ford were awarded LL.B. degrees.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Duke University Law School made the change in 1968,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and Yale Law School in 1971.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
List by presidentEdit
Other academic associationsEdit
Faculty memberEdit
| President(s) | School | Position | Years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James A. Garfield | Hiram College | Professor of Latin, Greek, Mathematics, History, Philosophy, Rhetoric and English literature | 1857–1861<ref>Joseph Nathan Kane, Facts About the Presidents (New York: Simon & Schuster [Pocket Books], 1968 [5th printing]), 194.</ref> | ||
| Grover Cleveland | Princeton University | Stafford Little Lecturer on Public Affairs | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |
| William Howard Taft | University of Cincinnati College of Law | Dean | 1896–1900<ref>UC.edu Template:Webarchive</ref> | ||
| Yale Law School | Kent Professor of Law | 1913–1921 | |||
| Boston University School of Law | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> ||1918–1921 | |||
| Woodrow Wilson | Bryn Mawr College | Professor of Politics and History | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |
| Wesleyan University | Professor of Politics | 1888–1890<ref name="princetonWilsonBio" /> | |||
| Princeton University | Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Economy | 1890–1902 | |||
| Harry S. Truman | Yale University | Chubb Fellow Visiting Lecturer | 1958<ref>Robert H. Ferrell, Farewell to the Chief: Former Presidents in American Public Life, 1991, page 52</ref> | ||
| Canisius College | Visiting Lecturer | 1962<ref>U.S. Government Printing Office, Congressional Record, Volume 108, Part 4, 1962, page 5168.</ref> | |||
| Richard Nixon | Whittier College | Adjunct lecturer, taught undergraduate legal studies class | 1937–1942 | ||
| Jimmy Carter | Emory University | University Distinguished Professor | 1982–2024 | ||
| George H. W. Bush | Rice University | Part-Time Professor of Administrative Science | 1978 | ||
| Bill Clinton | University of Arkansas | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> ||1973–1977 | ||
| Barack Obama | University of Chicago Law School | citation | CitationClass=web
}}
|
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|
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}}</ref>||1992–2004 |
| Joe Biden | Widener University Delaware Law School | Adjunct Professor<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | 1991–2008 | ||
| University of Pennsylvania | Benjamin Franklin Presidential Practice professor<ref name="Shelbourne">Template:Cite news</ref> | 2017–2019 |
School rector or presidentEdit
| 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 governorEdit
| President(s) | School | Position | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| George Washington | College of William & 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 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> || 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<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | 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<ref>Template:Cite book 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.</ref> |
| Martin Van Buren | University of the State of New York | Board of Regents | 1816–1829 |
| John Tyler | College of William & 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 | 2012–2024 |
| Ronald Reagan | Eureka College | Board of Trustees | 1947–1953, 1967–1973, 1974–1980 |
See alsoEdit
- Other countries
- List of prime ministers of Australia by education
- List of prime ministers of Canada by academic degrees
- List of presidents of the Philippines by education
- List of prime ministers of the United Kingdom by education