Of the 45 US presidents, 32 had college degrees and 13 did not. Eight presidents did not attend college; five attended college but did not earn a degree; 21 graduated college with undergraduate degrees only; and 11 earned graduate degrees.
Below is a slideshow showing each US president, the years of his term(s) in office, and any college education and degree(s) he received.
1. George Washington
Apr. 30, 1789 – Mar. 4, 1797
surveyor’s certificate from the College of William and Mary
Image: George Washington, oil painting by Gilbert Stuart, c. 1795. In the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1907, (07.160), metmuseum.org
2. John Adams
Mar. 4, 1797 – Mar. 4, 1801
AB, Harvard College, 1755
AM, Harvard, 1758
Image: John Adams, oil on canvas by Gilbert Stuart, 1826; in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Source: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; Adams-Clement Collection, gift of Mary Louisa Adams Clement in memory of her mother, Louisa Catherine Adams Clement (object no. 1950.6.11)
3. Thomas Jefferson
Mar. 4, 1801 – Mar. 4, 1809
attended College of William and Mary, Mar. 25, 1760- Apr. 1762
Image: Thomas Jefferson, oil on canvas by Gilbert Stuart, c. 1821; in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Source: Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gift of Thomas Jefferson Coolidge IV in memory of his great-grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, his grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Coolidge II, and his father, Thomas Jefferson Coolidge III, 1986.71.<
4. James Madison
Mar. 4, 1809 – Mar. 4, 1817
BA, College of New Jersey (Princeton University), 1771
Image: James Madison, fourth president of the United States, oil on canvas by Chester Harding, c. 1829-30; in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Source: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (object no. NPG.68.50)
5. James Monroe
Mar. 4, 1817 – Mar. 4, 1825
attended College of William and Mary, 1774-1775
Image: James Monroe, oil on wood by Gilbert Stuart, c. 1817; in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Source: Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1979.4.3
6. John Quincy Adams
Mar. 4, 1825 – Mar. 4, 1829
AB, Harvard College, 1787
AM, Harvard College, 1790
attended Leiden University
Image: John Quincy Adams (between 1855-65) daguerreotype by Brady.
Source: Brady-Handy photograph collection, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (cwpbh 02619)
7. Andrew Jackson
Mar. 4, 1829 – Mar. 4, 1837
no college education
Image: Andrew Jackson, detail of an oil painting by John Wesley Jarvis, c. 1819; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1964, (64.8), metmuseum.org
8. Martin Van Buren
Mar. 4, 1837 – Mar. 4, 1841
no college education
Image: Upper torso Half length portrait, facing right, of Martin Van Buren, c. 1840-1862.
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
9. William Henry Harrison
Mar. 4, 1841 – Apr. 4, 1841
attended Presbyterian Hampden-Sydney College, 1787-1790
attended University of Pennsylvania, 1790-1791
Image: William Henry Harrison
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital file no. 3a53386u)
10. John Tyler
Apr. 4, 1841 – Mar. 4, 1845
graduated College of William and Mary, 1807
Image: John Tyler, photograph taken by Mathew Brady, between 1860 and 1862.
Source: National Archives, Washington, D.C.
11. James K. Polk
Mar. 4, 1845 – Mar. 4, 1849
graduated University of North Carolina, May 1818
Image: James K. Polk (James Polk), daguerreotype by Mathew Brady, 1849
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
12. Zachary Taylor
Mar. 4, 1849 – July 9, 1850
no college education
Image: Zachary Taylor, daguerreotype by Mathew B. Brady; 12th president of the United States.
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. no. LC-USZ62-13012)
13. Millard Fillmore
July 9, 1850 – Mar. 4, 1853
no college education
Image: Millard Fillmore, engraving by J.C. Buttre.
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (reproduction no. LC-USZ62-130172)
14. Franklin Pierce
Mar. 4, 1853 – Mar. 4, 1857
graduated Bowdoin College, 1824
attended Northhampton Law School
Image: Franklin Pierce
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C
15. James Buchanan
Mar. 4, 1857 – Mar. 4, 1861
graduated Dickinson College, Sep. 19, 1809
Image: James Buchanan oil on canvas by George Peter Alexander Healy, 1859; in the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Source: Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; transfer from the National Gallery of Art; gift of the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, 1942 (object no. NPG.65.48)
16. Abraham Lincoln
Mar. 4, 1861 – Apr. 15, 1865
no college education
Image: Abraham Lincoln the sixteenth president of the United States, oil on canvas by George P.A. Healy, 1887; in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. 188 x 137.1 cm.
Source: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; gift of the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, 1942 (object no. NPG.65.50)
17. Andrew Johnson
Apr. 15, 1865 – Mar. 4, 1869
no college education
Image: Andrew Johnson
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
18. Ulysses S. Grant
Mar. 4, 1869 – Mar. 4, 1877
graduated US Military Academy, West Point, 1843
Image: Ulysses S. Grant in 1863; photo by Mathew Brady.
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
19. Rutherford B. Hayes
Mar. 4, 1877 – Mar. 4, 1881
graduated Kenyon College, 1842
LLB, Harvard Law School, 1845
Image Portrait of Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president of the United States
Source: Library of Congress (neg. no. LC-USZ62-13019)
20. James Garfield
Mar. 4, 1881 – Sep. 19, 1881
attended Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (Hiram College), 1851-1854
graduated Williams College, 1856
Image: Portrait of James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States.
Source: Brady-Handy Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. no. lc-usz62-13020)
21. Chester A. Arthur
Sep. 19, 1881 – Mar. 4, 1885
graduated Union College, 1848
attended State and National Law School, 1853
Image: Chester Arthur, 1882
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
22. Grover Cleveland
Mar. 4, 1884 – Mar. 4, 1889
no college education
Image: Grover Cleveland
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
23. Benjamin Harrison
Mar. 4, 1889 – Mar. 4, 1893
graduated Miami University, 1852
Image: Portrait of Benjamin Harrison
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. no. LC-USZ62-73640)
24. Grover Cleveland
Mar. 4, 1893 – Mar. 4, 1897
no college education
Image: Grover Cleveland
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
25. William McKinley
Mar. 4, 1897 – Sep. 14, 1901
attended Allegheny College, 1860
attended Albany Law School, 1866
Image: U.S. president William McKinley
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (reproduction no. LC-USZ62-96358)
26. Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt
Sep. 14, 1901 – Mar. 4, 1909
AB, Harvard University, 1880
attended Columbia Law School (posthumously awarded JD in 2008, class of 1882)
Image: Theodore Roosevelt, Pres., head and shoulders portrait, facing left. Handy, Levin C. (Levin Corbin), 1855-1932, photographer. Between ca. 1900-1910
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
27. William Howard Taft
Mar. 4, 1909 – Mar. 4, 1913
graduated Yale College, 1878
LLB, Cincinnati Law School, 1880
Image: William Howard Taft, Kent professor of constitutional law at Yale between 1913 and 1921
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
28. Woodrow Wilson
Mar. 4, 1913 – Mar. 4, 1921
attended Davidson College, 1873-1874
graduated Princeton University, 1879
attended University of Virginia, 1881
PhD, history and political science, Johns Hopkins University, 1886
Image: Woodrow Wilson
Source: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
29. Warren G. Harding
Mar. 4, 1921 – Aug. 2, 1923
BS, Printing and Newspaper trade, Ohio Central College, 1882
Image: Warren Harding, 29th president of the United States. (Warren G. Harding)
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg no. LC-USZ62-91485)
30. Calvin Coolidge
Aug. 2, 1923 – Mar. 4, 1929
graduated Amherst College, 1895
Image: portrait of Calvin Coolidge (undated photograph, but probably recently after becoming president)
Source: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
31. Herbert Hoover
Mar. 4, 1929 – Mar. 4, 1933
graduated Geology, Stanford University, 1895
Image: Herbert Hoover
Source: Library of Congress, Washington D.C. (neg. no. LC-USZ62-24155)
32. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Mar. 4, 1933 – Apr. 12, 1945
AB, history, Harvard University
attended Columbia Law School, 1904-1907 (posthumous JD awarded in 2008 for class of 1907)
Image: Franklin D. Roosevelt
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital file no. 3c17121u)
33. Harry Truman
Apr. 12, 1945 – Jan. 20, 1953
attended Spalding’s Commercial College, 1901
attended Kansas City Law School, 1923-1925
Image: Harry S. Truman, 1945
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-USZ62-13033)
34. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Jan. 20, 1953 – Jan. 20, 1961
graduated US Military Academy, West Point, 1915
Image: Portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. no. LC-USZ62-104631)
35. John F. Kennedy
Jan. 20, 1961 – Nov. 22, 1963
BS, international affairs, Harvard University, 1940
attended Stanford Graduate School of Business, 1940
Image: John F. Kennedy, undated portrait
Source: White House Collection
36. Lyndon B. Johnson
Nov. 22, 1963 – Jan. 20, 1969
BS, Southwest Texas State Teachers’ College (Texas State University), 1930
attended Georgetown University Law School, 1934
Image: Lyndon B. Johnson (Lyndon Johnson), 36th president of the United States.
Source: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital file no. 3a53305u)
37. Richard M. Nixon
Jan. 20, 1969 – Aug. 9, 1974
graduated Whittier College, 1934
JD, Duke University Law School, 1937
Image: Official photo of President Richard Nixon
Source: U.S. Department of Defense
38. Gerald R. Ford
Aug. 9, 1974 – Jan. 20, 1977
BA, economics, University of Michigan, 1935
LLB, Yale University, 1941
Image: U.S. President Gerald R. Ford (Gerald Ford).
Source: The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum
39. James (Jimmy) Carter
Jan. 20, 1977 – Jan. 20, 1981
BS, Naval Academy, 1946
graduate work in reactor technology and nuclear physics, Union College
Image: Jimmy Carter, head-and-shoulders portrait. Photo dated 1977
Source: White House photography by Karl Schumacher, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (reproduction no. LC-USZC4-599)
40. Ronald Reagan
Jan. 20, 1981 – Jan. 20, 1989
BA, economics and sociology, Eureka College, 1932
Image: Portrait of Ronald Reagan, April 8, 1983
Source: U.S. Department of Defense
41. George H. W. Bush
Jan. 20, 1989 – Jan. 20, 1993
BA, economics, Yale University, 1948
Image: George Bush, 41st president of the United States, 1989.
Source: White House photo/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
42. William (Bill) J. Clinton
Jan. 20, 1993 – Jan. 20, 2001
BS, foreign service, Georgetown University, 1968
Rhodes Scholar, Oxford University, 1968
JD, Yale University, 1973
Image: Portrait of Bill Clinton
Source: U.S. Department of Defense
43. George W. Bush
Jan. 20, 2001 – Jan. 20, 2009
BA, history, Yale University, 1968
MBA, Harvard Business School, 1975
Image: George W. Bush (George Bush), 43rd president of the United States
Source: Eric Draper/White House Photo
44. Barack Obama
Jan. 20, 2009 – Jan. 20, 2017
attended Occidental College, 1979-1981
BA, political science, Columbia University, 1983
JD, Harvard Law School, 1991
Image: Official portrait for President Barack Obama. Released Wed., Jan. 14, 2009 08:13am. Photo taken by Pete Souza, the newly-announced official White House photographer.
Source: Pete Souza/The White House
45. Donald J. Trump
Jan. 20, 2017 – Jan. 20, 2021
attended Fordham University, 1964-1966
BS, economics, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, 1968
Image: President Donald Trump poses for his official portrait at The White House, in Washington, D.C., on October 6, 2017.
Source: White House photograph by Shealah Craighead/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (reproduction no. LC-DIG-ppbd-00608)
46. Joseph (Joe) R. Biden, Jr.
Jan. 20, 2021 –
BA, history and political science, University of Delaware, 1965
JD, Syracuse University, 1968
Image: Official portrait of U.S. president Joe Biden
Source: Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz
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