Admissions at some of the top colleges and universities in the US have become increasingly competitive as tuition costs continue to climb, but for the nation’s top students, earning a spot next to a former president on the alumni list could be worth the hassle.
The Ivy League has long been a breeding ground for world leaders, inspiring innovators, and many US presidents.
Among the eight Ivy League schools, Harvard has educated the most US presidents — eight — followed by Yale, with five.
On the other hand, a few of the Ivies have not yet seen one of their students become US president: Brown University, Cornell University, and Dartmouth College.
Most presidents in recent US history graduated from an Ivy League school. In fact, from the end of Ronald Reagan’s term in 1989 until the beginning of Joe Biden’s in 2021, the presidency was occupied by Ivy League alums. Donald Trump’s return to office in 2025 restored an Ivy League alum to the White House.
Here are the presidents who attended Ivy League institutions and the universities they attended, ranked by the number of US presidents they have educated.
Princeton University
The Ivy League’s ties with the US presidency go back to the nation’s founding. In 1771, founding father James Madison, who served as the fourth US president from 1809 to 1817, graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, then called the College of New Jersey.
Woodrow Wilson, who was president from 1913 to 1921, graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1879.
University of Pennsylvania
The ninth US president, William Henry Harrison, who served the shortest presidency in US history in 1841, attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied medicine, but he withdrew before his expected graduation date of 1793.
In 1968, Trump graduated with a bachelor’s in economics from Penn’s Wharton School, which he had transferred to from Fordham University two years prior.
Columbia University
After graduating from Harvard College — Harvard University’s undergraduate school — in 1880, Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th US president, attended Columbia University’s law school, from which he eventually withdrew.
His fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd US president, attended Columbia Law School in 1904 after graduating from Harvard College a year prior, but he also withdrew from the program.
In 1981, Barack Obama, then a junior at Occidental College, transferred to Columbia University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s in political science in 1983.
Yale University
The 27th US president, William Howard Taft, graduated from Yale University in 1878. His father, Alphonso Taft, who graduated from Yale in 1833, had founded the Skull and Bones secret society while at the school — his son, as well as two other US presidents, would become members of that society.
In 1941, the 38th US president, Gerald Ford, graduated from Yale Law School. In 1973, Bill Clinton, who was the president from 1993 to 2001, graduated from the same school.
George H. W. Bush, who was president from 1989 to 1993, graduated from Yale with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1948. His son George W. Bush, the 43rd US president, graduated from the school with a bachelor’s in history in 1968.
Both Bush presidents were members of the Skull and Bones secret society.
Harvard University
Harvard University has ties to the US presidency dating back to the nation’s founding. The first US vice president and second US president, John Adams, attended Harvard University, from which he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1755 and a master’s degree in 1758. His son John Quincy Adams, the sixth US president, graduated from Harvard College in 1787.
In 1845, Rutherford B. Hayes, who was president from 1877 to 1881, graduated from Harvard Law School.
The 26th US president, Theodore Roosevelt, graduated from Harvard College with a bachelor’s degree in 1880, as did the 32nd US president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1903.
In 1940, the 35th US president, John F. Kennedy, graduated from Harvard with a bachelor’s in international affairs. In his college essay, he famously expressed his desire to attend the school from which his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, graduated in 1912: “To be a ‘Harvard man’ is an enviable distinction, and one that I sincerely hope I shall attain.”
In 1975, George W. Bush graduated from the school with an MBA, the only US president to have earned this degree.
In 1991, Obama graduated from Harvard Law School, the most recent US president to attend the school.
Editor’s note: This story was originally published in June 2025. It was most recently updated in July 2026.
Correction: June 10, 2025 — An earlier version of this story misstated when Theodore Roosevelt graduated from Harvard College. It was in 1880, not 1876. It also misstated when William Howard Taft graduated from Yale University. It was in 1878, not 1978.
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