List of Presidents of the United States by education

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 such a degree even when this was quite rare indeed, as well as unnecessary, for practicing most occupations, including law. Of the forty-three individuals to have been the President, twenty-four of them graduated from a private undergraduate college, nine graduated from a public undergraduate college, and twelve 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 institutions

Undergraduate

Some Presidents attended more than one institution. George Washington never attended college, but he did receive his surveyor's certificate from The College of William & Mary in Virginia. Only three Presidents attended foreign colleges at the undergraduate level: John F. Kennedy at the London School of Economics and John Quincy Adams at Leiden University (with both transferring to Harvard College), and Bill Clinton who was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. 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 much newer U.S. Air Force Academy. Eisenhower also graduated from the 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.

School Location President(s)
Allegheny College Meadville, Pennsylvania
Amherst College Amherst, Massachusetts
Bowdoin College Brunswick, Maine
The College of William & Mary Williamsburg, Virginia 
Davidson College
 Davidson, North Carolina
Dickinson College Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Eureka College Eureka, Illinois
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 London, United Kingdom
Miami University Oxford, Ohio
Occidental College Los Angeles, California
Ohio Central College Iberia, Ohio
Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Texas State University San Marcos, Texas
Spalding's Commercial College (Kansas City, Missouri) Kansas City, Missouri
Stanford University Stanford, California
Leiden University Leiden, Netherlands
Union College Schenectady, New York
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, North Carolina
United States Military Academy West Point, New York
United States Army Command and General Staff College Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
United States Army Industrial College Washington, D.C.
United States Army War College Carlisle, Pennsylvania
United States Naval Academy Annapolis, Maryland
Whittier College Whittier, California
Williams College Williamstown, Massachusetts
Yale University New Haven, Connecticut

Law school

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
University of Michigan Law School Ann Arbor, Michigan
Northampton Law School Northampton, Massachusetts
State and National Law School Ballston Spa, New York
University of Cincinnati College of Law Cincinnati, Ohio
University of Kansas City School of Law Kansas City, Missouri
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. Some had attended college before beginning their legal studies, and several studied law without first having attended college. It was customary to study under established lawyers.[1] 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.

Business school

School Location President(s)
Harvard Business School Cambridge, Massachusetts
Stanford Graduate School of Business Stanford, California

Medical school

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

Ph.D.

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

Did not graduate from college

List by presidents

President School(s)
George Washington None (surveyor's certificate from The College of William and Mary)
John Adams Harvard University
Thomas Jefferson The College of William and Mary
James Madison Princeton University
James Monroe The College of William and Mary (did not graduate)
John Quincy Adams Leiden University (transferred to Harvard University)
Harvard University
Andrew Jackson None
Martin Van Buren None
William Henry Harrison Hampden–Sydney College (withdrew)
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (withdrew)
John Tyler The College of William and Mary
James K. Polk University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Zachary Taylor None
Millard Fillmore None
Franklin Pierce Bowdoin College
Northampton Law School
James Buchanan Dickinson College
Abraham Lincoln None
Andrew Johnson None
Ulysses S. Grant United States Military Academy
Rutherford B. Hayes Kenyon College
Harvard Law School
James Garfield Hiram College (transferred to Williams College)
Williams College
Chester A. Arthur Union College
State and National Law School (did not graduate)
Grover Cleveland None
Benjamin Harrison Miami University
William McKinley Allegheny College (withdrew)
Albany Law School (did not graduate)
Theodore Roosevelt Harvard University
Columbia Law School (withdrew) (Awarded J.D. in 2008, class of 1882)[3]
William Howard Taft Yale University
University of Cincinnati College of Law
Woodrow Wilson Davidson College (transferred to Princeton University)
Princeton University
University of Virginia School of Law (withdrew)
Johns Hopkins University (Ph.D.)
Warren G. Harding Ohio Central College
Calvin Coolidge Amherst College
Herbert Hoover Stanford University
Franklin D. Roosevelt Harvard University
Columbia Law School (withdrew) (Awarded J.D. in 2008, class of 1907)[4]
Harry S. Truman Spalding's Commercial College (withdrew)
University of Kansas City School of Law (withdrew)
Dwight D. Eisenhower U.S. 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 London School of Economics (General Course Program)
Princeton University (transferred to Harvard University)
Harvard University
Lyndon B. Johnson Texas State University (was called Southwest Texas State College during his college years)
Georgetown University Law Center (withdrew)
Richard Nixon Whittier College
Duke University School of Law
Gerald Ford University of Michigan
Yale Law School
Jimmy Carter Georgia Southwestern College (transferred to the Georgia Institute of Technology)
Georgia Institute of Technology (transferred to the United States Naval Academy)
U.S. Naval Academy
Union College (Postgraduate Nuclear Physics Course Program)
Ronald Reagan Eureka College
George H. W. Bush Yale University
Bill Clinton Georgetown University
University of Oxford (Rhodes Scholar)
Yale Law School
George W. Bush Yale University
Harvard Business School
Barack Obama Occidental College (transferred to Columbia University)
Columbia University
Harvard Law School

Other academic associations

School Rector or president

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

School trustee or governor

President(s) School Position Years
George Washington College of William and Mary Chancellor 1788–1799
George Washington Washington College Allowed use of his name, Benefactor, Board of Governors 1782-1799
George Washington Washington and Lee University Benefactor, no official position[5] 1796
Thomas Jefferson University of Virginia Board of Visitors 1819–1826
James Madison University of Virginia Board of Visitors 1819–1836
James Madison Madison College (Pennsylvania) Allowed use of his name, Benefactor (contributed funds - $2000 in 1827 dollars - towards founding)[6] 1827
James Monroe University of Virginia Board of Visitors 1826–1831
Millard Fillmore University at Buffalo Chancellor 1846–1874
James Buchanan Franklin & Marshall College President, Board of Trustees 1853–1865
John Tyler College of William and Mary Chancellor 1859–1862
Benjamin Harrison Purdue University Board of Trustees 1895–1901
Grover Cleveland Princeton University Board of Trustees 1901–1908
Ronald Reagan Eureka College Board of Trustees 1947–1953, 1967–1973, 1974-1980.
Rutherford B. Hayes The Ohio State University Board of Trustees 1881–1893
Franklin D. Roosevelt Vassar College Board of Trustees 1923-1945
Jimmy Carter Mercer University Board of Trustees 2012– present

Faculty member

President(s) School Position Years
James A. Garfield Hiram College Professor of Latin, Greek, Mathematics, History, Philosophy, Rhetoric and English literature 1857-1861[7]
William Howard Taft University of Cincinnati College of Law Dean1896-1900[8]
William Howard Taft Yale Law School Kent Professor of Law 1913-1921
William Howard Taft Yale University Member of the Yale Corporation 1901-1913
William Howard Taft Boston University School of Law Lecturer on Legal Ethics[9] 1918-1921
Woodrow Wilson Bryn Mawr CollegeProfessor of Politics and History 1885-1888[10]
Woodrow Wilson Wesleyan UniversityProfessor of Politics 1888-1890[10]
Woodrow Wilson Princeton UniversityProfessor of Jurisprudence and Political Economy, President 1902–1910
Harry S. Truman Yale UniversityChubb Fellow Visiting Lecturer 1958[11]
Harry S. Truman Canisius CollegeVisiting Lecturer 1962[12]
Dwight D. Eisenhower Columbia UniversityPresident1948-1952
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 Professor of Law 1973–1977
Barack Obama University of Chicago Law School Senior Lecturer [13]1992–2004

References

  1. ↑ http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/education/lawhighlights.htm
  2. ↑ http://www.mountvernon.org/visit/plan/index.cfm/pid/808/
  3. ↑ New York Sun, Presidents Roosevelt Honored With Posthumous Columbia Degrees, September 26, 2008
  4. ↑ Columbia Law School, Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt to Receive Posthumous Law Degrees from Columbia Law School, September 25, 2008
  5. ↑ http://www.wlu.edu/x52673.xml
  6. ↑ Reynolds, G.T. (1902). "Madison College". In Haskins, Charles Homer; Hull, William Isaac. A History of Higher Education in Pennsylvania. Government Printing Office. pp. 155–7.
  7. ↑ Joseph Nathan Kane, Facts About the Presidents (New York: Simon & Schuster [Pocket Books], 1968 [5th printing]), 194.
  8. ↑ UC.edu
  9. ↑ "BU School of Law Timeline". Boston University. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  10. 1 2 Biography of Wilson on Princeton Web.
  11. ↑ Robert H. Ferrell, Farewell to the Chief: Former Presidents in American Public Life, 1991, page 52
  12. ↑ U.S. Government Printing Office, Congressional Record, Volume 108, Part 4, 1962, page 5168
  13. ↑ Media Inquiries, University of Chicago Law School
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