The 35 colleges that produced the most US presidents

President: Donald Trump

Donald Trump attended this Bronx-based Jesuit school before transferring to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

According to "The Trumps: Three Generations of Builders and a Presidential Candidate," the president's sister, Maryanne, said that Trump chose to attend the college because "that's where he got in."

President: Joe Biden

During his college years at the University of Delaware in Newark, Joe Biden "was more interested in football, girls and late-night gab sessions than in his studies," The New York Times wrote in a 2008 profile.

Biden's school transcript showed that he earned mostly C's and D's during his first three semesters. Biden quit the football team after receiving a warning from his parents to focus on his grades and after meeting Neilia Hunter, who would become his first wife, The Daily Pennsylvanian student newspaper reported.

President: Barack Obama

Before attending Columbia University, Barack Obama studied for two years at Occidental College in Los Angeles.

President: Barack Obama

Obama transferred to Columbia University as a junior. There, he studied political science with a specialty in international relations, as well as English literature.

President: Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton received scholarships to attend Georgetown University, where he was class president in 1964 and 1965.

President: Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan attended this non-profit Christian college, which was originally founded by abolitionists in 1855.

President: Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter bounced around before transferring to the US Naval Academy. He began his undergraduate journey at Georgia Southwestern College before transferring to the Georgia Institute of Technology.

President: Jimmy Carter

After leaving Georgia Southwestern State University, Carter attended this public research university before transferring to the US Naval Academy.

President: Jimmy Carter

As a young man, Carter had always dreamed of attending the US Naval Academy. He achieved that goal in 1943.

President: Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford attended the University of Michigan, where he was a star player on the Wolverines football team.

President: Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon attended Whittier College. He had received a grant to attend Harvard, but he remained in his hometown of Whittier, California, in order to help his parents care for his tuberculosis-stricken older brother and run the family grocery store. 

President: Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson enrolled at the Southwest Texas State Normal School, now known as Texas State University. There, he became editor of the student newspaper and honed his debate skills.

President: John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy briefly studied at the London School of Economics before being forced to return to the US due to health reasons.

President: Herbert Hoover

Herbert Hoover entered Stanford University in 1891, the first year the school admitted any students. He later claimed to be the university's first student by sneaking into its unfinished dormitories and sleeping there before anyone else.

President: Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge sharpened his debating skills at Amherst College, from which he graduated in 1895.

President: Warren Harding

Warren Harding attended Ohio Central College, where he founded a student newspaper: The Iberia Spectator.

The college, founded by the Free Presbyterian Church, ceased operations by the end of the 19th century.

President: Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson's time at Davidson came to an end in 1874 after he became sick. He later moved on to study at Princeton.

President: William McKinley

William McKinley attended this Pennsylvania liberal arts school before withdrawing. During his time at the school, he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

President: William McKinley

McKinley briefly studied at the University of Mount Union — then known as Mount Union College — but was forced to withdraw for financial reasons. 

President: Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin Harrison graduated from Miami University in 1852. There, he was involved with Phi Delta Theta.

President: Chester A. Arthur

Chester A. Arthur was president of the debate club at Union College, a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York.

President: James Garfield

James Garfield attended Hiram College back when it was called the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, where he worked as a janitor and an instructor and wooed his wife, Lucretia.

President: James Garfield

Garfield later graduated from Williams College in 1856 and served as his class's salutatorian.

President: Rutherford B. Hayes

Rutherford B. Hayes didn't just attend Kenyon College — he graduated as the valedictorian of the class of 1824.

President: James Buchanan

James Buchanan, who began attending Dickinson College in 1807, was expelled from the school in 1808 for bad behavior. He later graduated from the school, although he kept no strong ties to his alma mater, per the school's archives.

President: Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce attended the Maine school, where he was ranked last in his class after two years.

President: James K. Polk

James K. Polk matriculated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1816. There, he roomed with William Dunn Moseley, the first US governor of Florida.

President: William Henry Harrison

William Henry Harrison attended Hampden-Sydney when he was just 14. He studied there for three years but eventually left the school on orders from his father.

President: John Quincy Adams

Leiden University may be the oldest university in the Netherlands, but it also had an impact on US history as well. John Quincy Adams attended the storied school while accompanying his father on a diplomatic mission to France.

Presidents: William Henry Harrison and Donald Trump

Harrison had quite an opportunity on his hands at the University of Pennsylvania, which he began attending in 1790.

He studied medicine under Dr. Benjamin Rush, a famed physician and Founding Father who signed the Declaration of Independence.

However, Harrison realized shortly after that he didn't want to be a physician. He told his biographer that he found himself "not liking the medical profession," so, after his father died and left his family in financial straits, he pursued a military career.

The first actual University of Pennsylvania graduate to ascend to the White House is Trump, who transferred from Fordham University to the Wharton School. While in college, Trump worked for his father's business.

In speeches, Trump often uses his Wharton pedigree as evidence that he is "a very smart person."

"Good genes, very good genes, OK, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart," he told a South Carolina crowd in July 2015.

Presidents: Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight Eisenhower

Ulysses S. Grant didn't just get a military education from West Point; he got a new name there. The future president was born Hiram Ulysses Grant, but his sponsor, Rep. Thomas Hamer, accidentally wrote down the wrong name.

So the new cadet became known as "Sam" around campus because his new "US" initials also stood for "Uncle Sam." At the Academy, Grant developed a reputation as a phenomenal horseman.

Dwight Eisenhower entered West Point in 1911, where he played football and was a member of the class of 1915. This group of West Point alumni would become known as "the class the stars fell on," given that 59 of its members became general officers.

Presidents: Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler

The College of William & Mary produced three presidents, although the last one graduated in 1807.

Thomas Jefferson enrolled at the school when he was 16. He wasn't a fan of Williamsburg, Virginia, however, which he labeled as "Devilsburg."

James Monroe studied at the college, but was more focused on revolutionary activities than attending class. In 1776, he dropped out after a year and a half in order to fight in the American Revolution.

John Tyler was the final president to attend the school. He was following in the footsteps of his father, who knew Jefferson in college.

Presidents: James Madison, Woodrow Wilson, and John F. Kennedy

Three presidents attended Princeton University, which was originally known as the College of New Jersey. One transferred to a different Ivy League school, while another went on to become president of the college.

According to the book "James Madison: Philosopher, Founder, and Statesman," Madison may have nearly had an emotional breakdown as a student due to the intensity of his studies.

Meanwhile, Woodrow Wilson studied at Princeton and was active in a number of debate societies. Wilson eventually returned to Princeton as an academic in 1890 and became president of the school in 1902.

John F. Kennedy only studied at Princeton briefly before transferring to Harvard.

Presidents: William Howard Taft, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush.

William Howard Taft was a big man on campus at Yale College and graduated second in his class.

The only two other Yale alumni to ascend to the White House were the father-and-son-duo of George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.

All three presidents were members of the Skull and Bones secret society.

Presidents: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy

Harvard University has produced the most presidents in US history.

John Adams, the first college-educated US president, attended the school. After returning from his travels in Europe, Adams' son John Quincy Adams also returned to his father's alma mater.

Continuing the familial tradition, both Roosevelts attended Harvard. 

In addition to committing himself to his studies, Theodore Roosevelt also boxed and rowed. Meanwhile, Franklin D. Roosevelt was editor of The Harvard Crimson and joined the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity.

The last Harvard alum to become president was Kennedy.

In his application, he noted that his father also attended the school and wrote, "To be a 'Harvard man' is an enviable distinction and one that I sincerely hope I shall attain."

Editor's note: This story was first published in June 2018 and most recently updated in June 2026. Áine Cain contributed to an earlier version of this report.