# 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 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
### Did not graduate from college

* 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)
* 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)
* 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)

### Undergraduate

| School | Location | President(s) |
| Allegheny College | Meadville, Pennsylvania | William McKinley (withdrew) |
| Amherst College | Amherst, Massachusetts | Calvin Coolidge |
| Bowdoin College | Brunswick, Maine | Franklin Pierce |
| Capital Business College | Salem, Oregon | Herbert Hoover (preparatory courses only, no degree conferred) |
| College of William & Mary | Williamsburg, Virginia | Thomas Jefferson James Monroe (withdrew) John Tyler |
| Columbia University | New York, New York | Barack Obama |
| Davidson College | Davidson, North Carolina | Woodrow Wilson (transferred to Princeton University) |
| Dickinson College | Carlisle, Pennsylvania | James Buchanan |
| Eureka College | Eureka, Illinois | Ronald Reagan |
| Fordham University | Bronx, New York | Donald Trump (transferred to the University of Pennsylvania) |
| Georgetown University | Washington, D.C. | Bill Clinton |
| Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta, Georgia | Jimmy Carter (transferred to United States Naval Academy) |
| Georgia Southwestern State University | Americus, Georgia | Jimmy Carter (transferred to Georgia Institute of Technology) |
| Hampden–Sydney College | Hampden Sydney, Virginia | William Henry Harrison (withdrew) |
| Harvard University | Cambridge, Massachusetts | John Adams John Quincy Adams Theodore Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt John F. Kennedy |
| Hiram College | Hiram, Ohio | James A. Garfield (transferred to Williams College) |
| Kenyon College | Gambier, Ohio | Rutherford B. Hayes |
| London School of Economics, University of London | London, United Kingdom | John F. Kennedy (transferred to Princeton University) |
| Miami University | Oxford, Ohio | Benjamin Harrison |
| University of Mount Union | Alliance, Ohio | William McKinley (withdrew) |
| Occidental College | Los Angeles, California | Barack Obama (transferred to Columbia University) |
| Ohio Central College | Iberia, Ohio | Warren G. Harding |
| University of Oxford | Oxford, United Kingdom | Bill Clinton (attended for two years as a Rhodes Scholar, but left without completing a degree to take a scholarship at Yale Law School) |
| Princeton University | Princeton, New Jersey | John F. Kennedy (transferred to Harvard University) James Madison Woodrow Wilson |
| Texas State University | San Marcos, Texas | Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Spalding's Commercial College | Kansas City, Missouri | Harry S. Truman (withdrew) |
| Stanford University | Stanford, California | Herbert Hoover |
| Leiden University | Leiden, Netherlands | John Quincy Adams (transferred to Harvard University) |
| Union College | Schenectady, New York | Chester A. Arthur |
| United States Military Academy | West Point, New York | Ulysses S. Grant Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| United States Naval Academy | Annapolis, Maryland | Jimmy Carter |
| University of Delaware | Newark, Delaware | Joe Biden |
| University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, Michigan | Gerald Ford |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, North Carolina | James K. Polk |
| University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Donald Trump |
| Whittier College | Whittier, California | Richard Nixon |
| Williams College | Williamstown, Massachusetts | James A. Garfield |
| Yale University | New Haven, Connecticut | William Howard Taft George H. W. Bush George W. Bush |
* ↑ Kennedy enrolled, but did not attend.
* ↑ Known during McKinley's attendance as Mount Union College.
* ↑ Known during Johnson's attendance as Southwest Texas State Teachers College.
* ↑ 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

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. 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

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 school

| School | Location | President(s) |
| Harvard Business School | Boston, Massachusetts | George W. Bush (MBA) |
| Stanford Business School | Stanford, California | John F. Kennedy (withdrew) |

#### Graduate school

| School | Location | President(s) |
| Harvard University | Cambridge, Massachusetts | John Adams (AM) John Quincy Adams (AM) |
| Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, Maryland | Woodrow Wilson (PhD) |

#### Medical school

| School | Location | President(s) |
| Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | William Henry Harrison (withdrew) |

#### Law school

| School | Location | President(s) |
| Albany Law School | Albany, New York | William McKinley (withdrew) |
| Columbia Law School | New York, New York | Theodore Roosevelt (withdrew; JD awarded posthumously in 2008, Class of 1882) Franklin D. Roosevelt (withdrew; JD awarded posthumously in 2008, Class of 1907) |
| Duke University School of Law | Durham, North Carolina | Richard Nixon (LLB) |
| Georgetown University Law Center | Washington, D.C. | Lyndon B. Johnson (withdrew) |
| Harvard Law School | Cambridge, Massachusetts | Rutherford B. Hayes (LLB) Barack Obama (JD) |
| Kansas City Law School (now University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law) | Kansas City, Missouri | Harry S. Truman (withdrew) |
| University of Michigan Law School | Ann Arbor, Michigan | Gerald Ford (transferred) |
| Northampton Law School | Northampton, Massachusetts | Franklin Pierce (did not graduate) |
| State and National Law School | Ballston Spa, New York | Chester A. Arthur (did not graduate) |
| Syracuse University College of Law | Syracuse, New York | Joe Biden (JD) |
| University of Cincinnati College of Law | Cincinnati, Ohio | William Howard Taft (LLB) |
| University of Virginia School of Law | Charlottesville, Virginia | Woodrow Wilson (withdrew) |
| Yale Law School | New Haven, Connecticut | Gerald Ford (LLB) Bill Clinton (JD) |
Several presidents who were lawyers did not attend law school, but became lawyers after independent study under the tutelage of established attorneys. 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
### Ph.D. (research doctorate)

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

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

| School | Location | President(s) |
| Harvard Business School | Boston, Massachusetts | George W. Bush |

### M.A. (Master of Arts)

| School | Location | President(s) |
| Harvard University | Cambridge, Massachusetts | John Adams John Quincy Adams |
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)

| School | Location | President(s) |
| University of Cincinnati College of Law | Cincinnati, Ohio | William Howard Taft |
| Duke University School of Law | Durham, North Carolina | Richard Nixon |
| Yale Law School | New Haven, Connecticut | Gerald Ford Bill Clinton |
| Harvard Law School | Cambridge, Massachusetts | Rutherford B. Hayes Barack Obama |
| Syracuse University College of Law | Syracuse, New York | Joe Biden |
| Columbia Law School | New York, New York | Theodore Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt |
Note: Hayes, Taft, Nixon and Ford were awarded LL.B. degrees. 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. Duke University Law School made the change in 1968, and Yale Law School in 1971.

## List by president

| 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.) |
| 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.) |
| 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 | 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
### 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 |
| Grover Cleveland | Princeton University | Stafford Little Lecturer on Public Affairs | 1899–1908 |
| William Howard Taft | University of Cincinnati College of Law | Dean | 1896–1900 |
| William Howard Taft | Yale Law School | Kent Professor of Law | 1913–1921 |
| William Howard Taft | Boston University School of Law | Lecturer on Legal Ethics | 1918–1921 |
| Woodrow Wilson | Bryn Mawr College | Professor of Politics and History | 1885–1888 |
| Woodrow Wilson | Wesleyan University | Professor of Politics | 1888–1890 |
| Woodrow Wilson | Princeton University | Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Economy | 1890–1902 |
| Harry S. Truman | Yale University | Chubb Fellow Visiting Lecturer | 1958 |
| Harry S. Truman | Canisius College | Visiting Lecturer | 1962 |
| 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 | Assistant Professor of Law | 1973–1977 |
| Barack Obama | University of Chicago Law School | Senior Lecturer | 1992–2004 |
| Joe Biden | Widener University Delaware Law School | Adjunct Professor | 1991–2008 |
| Joe Biden | University of Pennsylvania | Benjamin Franklin Presidential Practice professor | 2017–2019 |

### 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 |
| 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

| 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 | George Washington University | Left shares in his will to establish a university in the District of Columbia | 1799 |
| George Washington | Washington and Lee University | Benefactor | 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 ($2,000 in 1827 dollars) towards founding | 1827 |
| James Monroe | George Washington University | Benefactor | 1821 |
| James Monroe | University of Virginia | Board of Visitors | 1826–1831 |
| John Quincy Adams | Harvard University | Board of Overseers | 1830–1848 |
| John Quincy Adams | George Washington University | Benefactor, Board of Trustees | 1832 |
| Andrew Jackson | University of Nashville | Board of Trustees | 1806–1845 |
| 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 |
| Rutherford B. Hayes | Western Reserve University | Chairman of the Board of Trustees | 1881–1893 |
| Rutherford B. Hayes | Ohio Wesleyan University | Board of Trustees | 1884–1893 |
| James A. Garfield | Hiram College | Board of Trustees | 1866–1881 |
| James A. Garfield | 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 |
| Theodore Roosevelt | Harvard University | Board of Overseers | 1895–1901, 1915–1916 |
| William Howard Taft | Yale University | Member of the Yale Corporation | 1901–1913 |
| William Howard Taft | 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 |
| Herbert Hoover | American University | Board of Trustees | 1945–1950 |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | Harvard University | Board of Overseers | 1917–1923 |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | 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 |