Where Did Each US President Go to College?
September 9, 2024
The history of the United States cannot be studied without understanding the American presidents. Since 1789, this country has seen 46 vastly differing presidencies. However, did you know that only 45 people served as presidents? Grover Cleveland was , which makes him our 22nd and 24th president, and the first president to serve two non-consecutive terms. Were you aware that Franklin D. Roosevelt was the longest serving US president? Who exactly were these people who ran the country for all these years and where did each US president go to college?
Just as their presidencies varied, politically or socio-economically, so did their educational backgrounds. Below you鈥檒l find which 25 presidents graduated from a private university, which 9 graduated from a public university, and which 11 presidents hadn鈥檛 gone to college. When you learn of the most recent president without a college degree, you might be surprised.
Take a look at the colleges of the presidents over the many years:
Where Did Each US President Go to College?
1) George Washington – No college degree
George Washington was the first US president, and he was also the first president to have no college degree. He served as president for eight years, from 1789 to 1797.
2) John Adams – Harvard University
John Adams was the second US president, and he served for four years, from 1797 to 1801. He was a graduate of Harvard University.
3) Thomas Jefferson – The College of William and Mary
From 1801 to 1809, Thomas Jefferson served as the third US president. He graduated from The College of William and Mary.
Where Did Each US President Go to College? (Continued)
4) James Madison – Princeton University
James Madison, the fourth president of the US, served the country from 1809 to 1817. He graduated from Princeton University.
5) James Monroe – The College of William and Mary
From 1817 to 1825, James Monroe was the fifth president of the US, serving a total of 8 years. Like Thomas Jefferson, he went to The College of William and Mary, but he withdrew from his studies.
6) John Quincy Adams – Harvard University
John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the US and the son of John Adams, served a four-year term from 1825 to 1829. Following his father, who was the second president of the US, John Adams also attended Harvard University.
Where Did Each US President Go to College? (Continued)
7) Andrew Jackson – No college degree
Andrew Jackson was the seventh US president from 1829 to 1837. He was also the second US president who did not go to college, much like George Washington.
8) Martin Van Buren – No college degree
As the eighth US president, Martin Van Buren ran the country from 1837 to 1841. He also joins the list of presidents without a college degree.
9) William Henry Harrison – No college degree
William Henry Harrison served as president for only one month in 1841, and he too did not attend college like his past two predecessors.
Where Did Each US President Go to College? (Continued)
10) John Tyler – The College of William and Mary
In 1841, John Tyler stepped into the Oval Office as the 10th US president, where he served until 1845. He became the third president who was a graduate of The College of William and Mary, placing the institution as one of the popular colleges of the presidents.
11) James K. Polk – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
From 1845 to 1849, James K. Polk was the 11th president of the US. He was also the first president to graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
12) Zachary Taylor – No college degree
As the 12th US president, Zachary Taylor only saw his term last for one year, from 1849 to 1850. Although his term was short-lived, he joined the growing list of presidents without a college degree.
Where Did Each US President Go to College? (Continued)
13) Millard Fillmore – No college degree
Millard Fillmore served as the 13th US president for three years, from 1850 to 1853, and he was the fifth president without a college degree.
14) Franklin Pierce – Bowdoin College
Putting Bowdoin College on the list of colleges of the presidents for the first time, Franklin Pierce was president from 1853 – 1857. He was the 14th president of the US.
15) James Buchanan – Dickinson College
James Buchanan held a college degree from Dickinson College, and he was the 15th US president for a full four-year term. He was in the Oval Office from 1857 to 1861.
Where Did Each US President Go to College? (Continued)
16) Abraham Lincoln – No college degree
When Abraham Lincoln鈥檚 name is mentioned, most people wouldn鈥檛 assume that the 16th US president did not have a college degree. It certainly didn鈥檛 stop him from transforming the country from 1861 to 1865. You might have heard of the Emancipation Proclamation.
17) Andrew Johnson – No college degree
Andrew Johnson, the 17th US president, also joins the list of presidents without a college degree. His four-year term was from 1865 to 1869.
18) Ulysses S. Grant – United States Military Academy
Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th US president from 1869 to 1877, held a college degree from the United States Military Academy. He served for two terms and was the first president to put USMA on the list of colleges of the presidents.
Where Did Each US President Go to College? (Continued)
19) Rutherford B. Hayes – Kenyon College
As the 19th president of the US, Rutherford B. Hayes served in the Oval Office from 1877 to 1881. He was a graduate of Kenyon College.
20) James A. Garfield – Williams College
James A. Garfield was the 20th US president, but he served only a six-month term in 1881. He was the first president to put Williams College on the map for colleges of the presidents.
21) Chester A. Arthur – Union College
Stepping in after his predecessor, Chester A. Arthur then served as the 21st president of the US for a little less than four years. He was a graduate of Union College.
Where Did Each US President Go to College? (Continued)
22) Grover Cleveland – No college degree
Grover Cleveland began his first term as the 22nd US president in 1885. He was the first democrat elected after the Civil War, and he did not have a college degree.
23) Benjamin Harrison – Miami University (Ohio)
Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd US president from 1889 to 1893, was a lawyer and brigadier general during the Civil War. He was a graduate of Miami University not in Miami, Florida but in Oxford, Ohio.
24) Grover Cleveland – No college degree
When he was elected again as president in 1893, Grover Cleveland became the first president to serve two non-consecutive terms.
Where Did Each US President Go to College? (Continued)
25) William McKinley – No college degree
The 25th president of the US, William McKinley, served in the Oval Office from 1897 to 1901. He, like his predecessor, was another US president without a college degree.
26) Theodore Roosevelt – Harvard College
Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th US president, serving two terms from 1901 to 1909. Like John Adams and John Quincy Adams, he graduated from Harvard College. Roosevelt became the third US president to put Harvard on the list of colleges of the presidents.
27) William H. Taft – Yale University
William H. Taft, the 27th US president from 1909 to 1913, held a college degree from Yale University. He was the first president to graduate from Yale.
Where Did Each US President Go to College? (Continued)
28) Woodrow Wilson – Princeton University
From 1913 to 1921, Woodrow Wilson served two terms as the 28th president of the US. After James Madison, he became the second US president to have graduated from Princeton University.
29) Warren G. Harding – Ohio Central College
Warren G. Harding was the 29th US president, from 1921 to 1923. He held a college degree from Ohio Central College.
30) Calvin Coolidge – Amherst College
As the 30th US president, Calvin Coolidge served in the Oval Office for six years. He became the first president to have a degree from Amherst College.
Where Did Each US President Go to College? (Continued)
31) Herbert C. Hoover – Stanford University
Herbert C. Hoover, the 31st US president from 1929 to 1933, was the first president to have attended a college so far out west. He was a graduate of Stanford University, putting the school for the first time on the list of colleges of the presidents.
32) Franklin D. Roosevelt – Harvard College
As the 32nd US president, Franklin D. Roosevelt held his office for 12 years, from 1933 to 1945. Much like his fifth cousin, the 26th president of the US, Theodore Roosevelt, FDR also attended Harvard College.
33) Harry S. Truman – No college degree
Harry S. Truman, who served as the 33rd US president from 1945 to 1953, was the most recent president who did not have a college degree.
Where Did Each US President Go to College? (Continued)
34) Dwight D. Eisenhower – United States Military Academy
Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th president of the US from 1953 to 1961. Joining Ulysses S. Grant on this list of colleges of the presidents, Eisenhower was also a graduate of the United States Military Academy.
35) John F. Kennedy – Harvard University
John F. Kennedy was a graduate of Harvard University, and he served as the 35th US president from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.
36) Lyndon B. Johnson – Texas State
After JFK鈥檚 assassination in 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson stepped into the Oval Office as the 36th US president. He served for six years and was the first president to graduate from Texas State.
Where Did Each US President Go to College? (Continued)
37) Richard M. Nixon – Whittier College
As the 37th US president, Richard M. Nixon held his office from 1969 until 1974. He was the first president to come out of Whittier College.
38) Gerald R. Ford – University of Michigan
Gerald R. Ford, the 38th US president, served a three-year term from 1974 – 1977, and he graduated from the University of Michigan. He was the first president to put the Ann Arbor university on the list of colleges of the presidents.
39) James (Jimmy) Earl Carter – United States Naval Academy
Jimmy Carter was the 39th president of the US, and he served in the Oval Office from 1977 to 1981. He was the first president to have graduated from the United States Naval Academy.
Where Did Ronald Reagan Go to College? (Continued)
40) Ronald Reagan – Eureka College
Ronald Reagan wasn鈥檛 just a movie star before he became the 40th president of the US. He was also a graduate of Eureka College, and the first president to come out of the school. Reagan held his office for two terms, from 1981 to 1989.
41) George Bush – Yale University
George Bush was the 41st US president from 1989 to 1993, and he was the second president to have graduated from Yale University.
42) William (Bill) J. Clinton – Georgetown University and Oxford University
As the 42nd US president, Bill Clinton served two terms, from 1993 to 2001. He was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University, before he eventually attended and graduated from Georgetown University.
43) George W. Bush – Yale University
George W. Bush was the 43rd US president, serving two terms in the Oval Office, from 2001 to 2009. Just like his father, George W. Bush also attended Yale University.
Where Did Barack Obama Go to College? (Continued)
44) Barack H. Obama – Columbia University
Barack Obama was the 44th US president for two terms, from 2009 to 2017. As the first president to have graduated from Columbia University, Columbia now joins the list of colleges of the presidents.
45) Donald J. Trump – University of Pennsylvania
Donald Trump served one term as the 45th US president, from 2017 to 2012. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania.
Where Did Donald Trump Go to College? (Continued)
46) Joseph (Joe) R. Biden, Jr. – University of Delaware
As the incumbent elected in 2021, Joe Biden is the 46th president of the US. He is the first US president to have a college degree from the University of Delaware.
Where Did Each US President Go to College? An American Education
Most people assume that every president attended college, but that would be an inaccurate judgment. Each president brought to the Oval Office a different level of education with them, formal or not.
From the late 18th century to the mid-20th century, the state of education in the US transformed unrecognizably. With time, the prioritization of creating institutions of higher education gained more traction across the country. This eventually led to the number of American universities we see today. And with each graduate, these institutions might be wondering which one could very well become the next president.
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