24 Americans Who Became Extremely Successful Without a College Degree
Higher education is often a ticket to a better job, a bigger salary, and a fuller life. But it’s not the only path to success.
As these Americans prove, with enough talent, determination, and luck, you don’t always need a college degree to be sucessful.
1: Mark Zuckerberg
Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg is worth more than 175 billion dollars, but he doesn’t have a college degree. Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard in 2005 to focus on Facebook.
2: Bill Gates
Gates left Harvard after his sophomore year to focus on the computer company he co-founded, Microsoft. He returned for his junior year but left again before graduating.
3: Alicia Keys
During an interview with Oprah magazine, Alicia Keys revealed she left Columbia University after only four weeks to accept a record deal. She was only 16 at the time.
4: Joel Osteen
Megachurch pastor Joel Osteen didn’t make it past his freshman year at Oral Roberts University. He dropped out to help his father build Lakewood Church, where he now preaches to about 45,000 attendees per week.
5: Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods left Stanford after his sophomore year to pursue golf professionally. He later said he regretted not staying at school for one more year.
6: Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs only attended the liberal arts school Reed College for one semester before dropping out. He said he had to leave school because he ran out of money.
7: Brad Pitt
Before he won his Oscar, Brad Pitt was just another college dropout. He left the University of Missouri two weeks shy of graduation to move to Los Angeles.
8: Jack Dorsey
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey left the Missouri University of Science and Technology to take a job in New York. He then began to pursue a degree at New York University but dropped out just a few weeks before completion.
9: Rachael Ray
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Rachel Ray said tuition was just too expensive for her to continue at New York’s Pace University. She dropped out and took a job at Macy’s before becoming a Food Network personality.
10: Joe Rogan
Joe Rogan spent one semester at the University of Massachusetts in Boston before leaving to pursue comedy. He now hosts the world’s most popular podcast and has a reported net worth of over $200 million.
11: Travis Kalanick
In 2009, Travis Kalanick founded the ride-sharing platform Uber. Before that, he was a UCLA dropout.
12: Ralph Lauren
Fashion mogul Ralph Lauren dropped out of New York’s Baruch College after only two years. He then joined the U.S. Army before launching his career in fashion design.
13: David Neeleman
After a missionary experience in Brazil changed his mindset, David Neeleman decided to drop out of the University of Utah. He went on to found JetBlue Airways.
14: William McKinley
William McKinley is one of only two U.S. presidents without a college degree. He attended Allegheny College in Pennsylvania for at least a few semesters before dropping out, possibly due to a prank that involved placing a goat in the belfry.
15: Kanye West
The Grammy-winning album “College Dropout” was autobiographical in many respects. Kanye West attended the American Academy of Art and Chicago State University, but he never graduated.
16: R. Donohue Peebles
In 2009, R. Donohue Peebles made the list of wealthiest Black Americans with a reported net worth of more than $700 million. Years earlier, he dropped out of Rutgers to obtain a real estate license.
17: H. Wayne Huizenga
H. Wayne Huizenga turned Blockbuster into a household name. He also owned three major sports franchises, including the Miami Dolphins. Before all of that, he dropped out of Michigan’s Calvin College.
18: Michael Dell
Michael Dell only made it through two semesters at the University of Texas. He dropped out to launch his namesake computer company.
19: Harry Truman
Harry Truman is the second U.S. president to forgo a college degree. He had some higher education at a Kansas law school and at an unnamed business school but never earned a diploma.
20: Paul Allen
After just two years at Washington State University, Paul Allen left to take a job in Boston. He went on to co-found Microsoft with Bill Gates and later owned the Seattle Seahawks.
21: Frank Lloyd Wright
Named the greatest architect of the 20th century, Frank Lloyd Wright didn’t have a college degree. He took classes part-time at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for only two semesters.
22: Ty Warner
Before he went on to create the Beanie Babies craze that swept America in the late 1990s, billionaire Ty Warner dropped out of Michigan’s Kalamazoo College. He could no longer afford to pay tuition.
23: Jamaica Kincaid
Before writing novels like Annie John and Lucy, Jamaica Kincaid attempted to earn a degree at New Hampshire’s Franconia College. However, her urge to write was stronger than her need to finish school.
24: Steve Madden
Footwear designer and fashion mogul Steve Madden dropped out of the University of Miami. His father stopped paying tuition and told the struggling student to get a job.
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