Presidents Without a College Degree

There are very few presidents without college degrees in American history. Thats not to say there havent been any, or that its impossible to work in politics without a college degree. Legally, you can be elected president of the United States  even if you didnt go to college.  The U.S. Constitution  does not set forth any education requirements for presidents.   But its a  pretty extraordinary achievement for a president without a college degree to be elected today. Every chief executive elected to  the White House in modern history  has held at least a bachelors degree. Most have earned advanced degrees or law degrees from Ivy League schools. In fact, every president since George H.W. Bush has held a degree from an Ivy League university.   Bush was a graduate of Yale University. So was his son, George W. Bush, the 43rd president, and Bill Clinton. Barack Obama got his law degree from Harvard University. Donald Trump, the billionaire real-estate developer and businessman elected president in 2016, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, another Ivy League school. The trend is clear: not only do modern presidents have college degrees, but theyve also earned degrees from the most elite universities in the United States. But it wasnt always common for presidents to have earned degrees or even attended college. In fact, educational attainment wasnt a prime consideration among voters. Education of Early Presidents Fewer than half of the nations first 24 presidents held college degrees. Thats because they just didnt need to. For much of the nation’s history a college education was a prerequisite for the rich, well-connected or both; of the first 24 men who became president, 11 had not graduated from college at all (though three of those had attended some college without earning a degree), wrote  Drew DeSilver, a senior writer at the Pew Research Center. The most recent president without a college degree was Harry S. Truman, who served until 1953. The 33rd president of the United States, Truman attended business college and law school but graduated from neither. List of Presidents Without College Degrees George Washington: The nations first president never took college courses but did earn a  surveyors certificate.James Monroe: The nations fifth president attended William Mary College but didnt graduate.Andrew Jackson: The seventh president did not attend college.Martin Van Buren: The nations eighth president did not attend college.William Henry Harrison: The ninth president of the United States  attended both  Hampden-Sydney College and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; he didnt graduate from either.Zachary Taylor: The nations 12th president did not attend college.Millard Fillmore: The 13th president did not attend college.Abraham Lincoln: The 16th president did not attend college.Andrew Johnson: The 17th president did not attend college.Grover Cleveland: The 22nd president did not attend college.William McKinley: The 25th president took courses at both Allegheny College and Albany Law School but did not graduate from either.Harry S. Truman: The 33rd presiden t took courses at Spaldings Commercial College  and the University of Kansas City School of Law but didnt earn degrees from either. Why Presidents Need College Degrees Now Even though nearly a dozen U.S. presidents - including some very successful ones - never earned degrees, every White House occupant since Truman has earned at least a bachelors degree. Would the likes of Lincoln and Washington be elected today without degrees? Probably not, wrote  Caitlin Anderson on CollegePlus, an organization that works with students to earn degrees.  Our information saturated society believes education must take place in the traditional classroom setting. Having a college degree makes candidates attractive. It makes anyone attractive. It’s essential.