President's who didn't attend ivy league schools

November 4, 2020

Ronald Reagan was the most recent U.S. president who did not attend an Ivy League university for undergraduate or graduate school. Reagan, a graduate of Eureka College, served two terms as president, from 1981 until 1989. He was one of seven U.S. presidents elected over the past 90 years who did not hold Ivy League degrees.

The other six: Herbert Hoover, who graduated from Stanford University; Harry Truman, who attended Spalding's Commercial College and the University of Kansas City School of Law; Dwight D. Eisenhower, who graduated from West Point and, later, various graduate programs for U.S. Army personnel; Richard Nixon, who graduated from Whittier College and Duke University School of Law; Lyndon B. Johnson, who graduated from Texas State University and attended Georgetown University Law Center; and Jimmy Carter, who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy before completing a postgraduate program at Union College.

Biden graduated from the Syracuse University College of Law after completing his undergraduate studies at University of Delaware. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in history and political science, and a minor in English. California Senator Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee running alongside Biden, received her undergraduate degree from Howard University and law degree from the University of California, Hastings.

Carter and former Vice President Walter Mondale, elected to office in 1976, were the last pairing without an Ivy League degree.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden wears a mask while speaking to reporters in New Castle, Delaware, before boarding a flight to Ohio for a campaign rally in Toledo on Monday afternoon.CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY