# How many US Presidents have degrees from both Harvard and Yale? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 17, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-degrees-from-both-harvard-and-yale/240559 "2004-04-17T20:35:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-degrees-from-both-harvard-and-yale/240559/1 "2004-04-17T20:35:03Z")
Not counting honorary degrees, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-degrees-from-both-harvard-and-yale/240559/2 "2004-04-17T23:43:21Z")
Well, the current one, of course. He has a BA from Yale (or do they call it an AB there? - undergraduate arts degree, in any event) and an MBA from Harvard. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-degrees-from-both-harvard-and-yale/240559/3 "2004-04-18T19:40:21Z")
For what it’s worth, Yalies in the white house is a relatively recent phenomenon. Five U.S. Presidents have gone to Yale, including four of the last six. More presidents attended Harvard (seven) than any other college. I’ve attached a list of colleges that produced presidents, since I happen to have it. –Seven Presidents ----- Harvard: J. Adams, J.Q. Adams, Hayes (Law), T. Roosevelt, F. Roosevelt, Kennedy, Bush Jr. –Five Presidents ----- Yale: Taft, Ford, G Bush, Clinton, GW Bush –Three Presidents ----- William & Mary: Jefferson, Monroe, Tyler –Two Presidents ----- Princeton: Madison, Wilson USMA (West Point): Grant, Eishenhower – One Presidents ----- Albany: McKinley (Law) Allegheny: McKinley Amherst: Coolidge Bowdoin: Pierce Cincinnati: Taft Dickinson: Buchanan Duke: Nixon Eureka: Reagan Georgetown: Clinton Hampden-Sydney College: WH Harrison Kenyon: Hayes Johns Hopkins: Wilson Miami (Oh): B Harrison Michigan: Ford Naval Academy: Carter North Carolina: Polk Ohio Central: Harding Oxford: Clinton SW Texas State: L Johnson Stanford: Hoover Union: Garfield Whittier: Nixon Williams: Garfield –Presidents who did not graduate college----- Washington, Jackson, Van Buren, Taylor, Fillmore, Lincoln, A Johnson, Truman –Presidents who attended multiple colleges----- Hayes,McKinley,Taft, Wilson, Nixon, Ford, Clinton, GW Bush ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-degrees-from-both-harvard-and-yale/240559/4 "2004-04-19T01:38:01Z")
Actually, I think Kennedy attended Princeton briefly, and then transferred to Harvard. No cite handy, but I think I’ve read this in several bios. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-degrees-from-both-harvard-and-yale/240559/5 "2004-04-21T01:32:37Z")
> [@pseudotriton ruber ruber](#): > > Actually, I think Kennedy attended Princeton briefly, and then transferred to Harvard. No cite handy, but I think I’ve read this in several bios. Yes he did, [here’s one cite](http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761576731/Kennedy_John_Fitzgerald.html) that explains he had to leave princeton during his freshman year due to illness. My list just shows which colleges the Presidents were graduated from. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-degrees-from-both-harvard-and-yale/240559/6 "2004-04-21T11:47:55Z")
Actually, the last item on your list –Presidents who attended multiple colleges----- Hayes,McKinley,Taft, Wilson, Nixon, Ford, Clinton, GW Bush was what I was referring to. Kennedy should be on that list, no? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-degrees-from-both-harvard-and-yale/240559/7 "2004-04-21T13:15:10Z")
> [@Northern Piper](#): > > Well, the current one, of course. He has a BA from Yale (or do they call it an AB there? - undergraduate arts degree, in any event) and an MBA from Harvard. sure those weren’t honorary? ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-degrees-from-both-harvard-and-yale/240559/8 "2004-04-21T13:34:35Z")
No US presidents that I know of have received degrees from both universities. I believe the OP meant to ask “How many US presidents have degrees from either Harvard or Yale?” ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-degrees-from-both-harvard-and-yale/240559/9 "2004-04-21T13:45:57Z")
> [@pseudotriton ruber ruber](#): > > Actually, the last item on your list > > –Presidents who attended multiple colleges----- > Hayes,McKinley,Taft, Wilson, Nixon, Ford, Clinton, GW Bush > > was what I was referring to. Kennedy should be on that list, no? My fault, then. That should read “Presidents with degrees from multiple colleges.” Specifically, these are men who got post-graduate degrees. Hayes, McKinley, Taft, Nixon, Ford and Clinton finished law school. Wilson received a law degree and a PhD in political science. GW Bush has an MBA. > [@China Guy](#): > > sure those weren’t honorary? None of those I listed were honorary, including GW Bush, who graduated Yale in 1968, and received his MBA from Harvard in 1975. > [@sailor](#): > > No US presidents that I know of have received degrees from both universities. I believe the OP meant to ask “How many US presidents have degrees from either Harvard or Yale?” In fact, our current President is the only one to graduate from both Harvard and Yale. For those scoring at home, that makes seven from Harvard, five from Yale. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-degrees-from-both-harvard-and-yale/240559/10 "2004-04-22T03:19:49Z")
> [@China Guy](#): > > sure those weren’t honorary? From the [Miserable Failure](http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html)\* website: > [@](#): > > President Bush was born on July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut, and he grew up in Midland and Houston, Texas. He received a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 1968, then served as an F-102 fighter pilot in the Texas Air National Guard. President Bush received a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 1975. - That’s a joke, son. A joke. 🆒