Governors and state executives by higher education background

State Executive Analyses

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Education

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Education

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Other state executives

Compensation - lieutenant governors

Term limits - attorneys general

Term limits - lieutenant governors

Term limits - secretaries of state

As of February 2024, there were 192 officials holding the top four state executive official positions of governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and secretary of state across the country, and their educational attainment is as follows:

• 184 officeholders with a bachelor's degree (B.A., B.S.)
• 58 officeholders with a master's degree (M.A., M.S., MBA, etc.)
• 95 officeholders with a J.D.
• 8 officeholders with a Ph.D.
• 1 officeholders with an M.D.
• 8 officeholders with no higher education degree

The eight officeholders without a higher education degree in their official biography are Gov. Mike Parson (R-Mo.), Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-Mt.), Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser (R-La.), Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe (R-Mo.), Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden (R-S.D.), Lt. Gov. Craig Blair (R-W.Va.), Sec. of State Josh Cockroft (R-Okla.), and Sec. of State Monae Johnson (R-S.D.).

The total number of degrees is greater than the number of top four state executive officials because some officials have multiple degrees.

Ballotpedia compiled this data by consulting officeholders' official biographies, campaign websites, resumes included on LinkedIn profiles, and media accounts.

Here is a summary of the educational attainment of these state executive officers:

• 43 have a bachelor's degree (B.A., B.S.)
• 38 have a bachelor's degree and a master's degree (M.A., M.S., MBA, etc.)
• 79 have a bachelor's degree and a law degree (J.D.)
• 12 have a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, and a law degree
• eight have no higher education degree
• five have a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, and a Ph.D.
• two have a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, a law degree, and a Ph.D.
• one has a bachelor's degree and a Ph.D.
• one has a bachelor's degree and a medical degree (M.D.)
• one has a bachelor's degree and a degree in veterinary medicine (DVM)
• one has a bachelor's degree, a law degree, and a master of laws degree (LLM)
• one has a bachelor's degree, a law degree, and two masters of laws degrees
• one has a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, a law degree, and a master of laws degree.
  
  

Most popular schools by degree

Bachelor's

• Harvard University: 6
• Yale University: 5
• Brigham Young University: 5
• University of Vermont: 4
• University of Washington: 4
• Auburn University: 3
• Dartmouth College: 3
• University of Georgia: 3

27 schools have two alumni, the rest have one

Master's

• University of Oxford: 4
• Harvard University: 3
• Columbia University: 2
• University of Nevada, Las Vegas: 2
• University of Washington: 2

All other schools have one alumni

J.D.

• Harvard University: 7
• Stanford University: 3
• University of Chicago: 3
• University of Mississippi: 3
• University of Virginia: 4

10 schools have two alumni; the rest have one

Most popular undergraduate schools by position

• Governor: Harvard University (3)
• Lieutenant governor: Brigham Young University (2)
• Attorney general: Brigham Young University and Harvard University (3 each)
• Secretary of state: University of Maryland and University of Washington (2 each)

State executive educations by party

Democratic officeholders breakdown

Democratic state executives held the following higher education degrees:

The most popular schools for Democratic state executive officials (by degree) were:

Bachelor's

• Harvard University: 5
• Yale University: 4
• Dartmouth College: 3
• University of Vermont: 3
• University of Washington: 3

12 schools have two alumni; the rest have one

Master's

• Columbia University: 3
• University of Oxford: 3
• University of Washington: 3
• Harvard University: 2

All other schools have one alumnus

J.D.

• Harvard University: 4
• Stanford University: 3

Five schools have two alumni; the rest have one

Republican officeholders breakdown

Republican state executives held the following higher education degrees:

The most popular schools for Republican state executive officials (by degree) were:

Bachelor's

• Brigham Young University: 5
• Auburn University: 3
• University of Georgia: 3

Eight other schools have two alumni; the rest have one

Master's

• University of Nevada, Las Vegas: 2

All other schools have one alumnus

J.D.

• Harvard University: 3
• University of Mississippi: 3

Three schools have two alumni; the rest have one

Governors

Last updated February 7, 2024

Schools with multiple gubernatorial alumni include: Harvard University (6), Auburn University (2), University of Washington (2), Vanderbilt University (2), and Yale University (2).

Degrees earned by governors
State	Name	Bachelor's	Master's	JD	Ph.D.	MD	Other
Alabama	Kay Ivey	Auburn University (1967)
Alaska	Mike Dunleavy	Misericordia University (1963)	University of Alaska, Fairbanks (1991)
Arizona	Katie Hobbs	Northern Arizona University (1992)	Arizona State University (1995)
Arkansas	Sarah Huckabee Sanders	Ouachita Baptist University (2004)
California	Gavin Newsom	Santa Clara University (1989)
Colorado	Jared Polis	Princeton University (1996)
Connecticut	Ned Lamont	Harvard University (1976)	Yale University (1980)
Delaware	John Carney Jr.	Dartmouth College (1978)	University of Delaware (1987)
Florida	Ron DeSantis	Yale University (2001)		Harvard University (2005)
Georgia	Brian Kemp	University of Georgia
Hawaii	Joshua Green	Swarthmore College (1992)				Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine (1997)
Idaho	Brad Little	University of Idaho (1976)
Illinois	J.B. Pritzker	Duke University (1987)		Northwestern University (1993)
Indiana	Eric Holcomb	Hanover College (1990)
Iowa	Kim Reynolds	Iowa State University (2016)
Kansas	Laura Kelly	Bradley University (1971)	Indiana University, Bloomington
Kentucky	Andy Beshear	Vanderbilt University		University of Virginia
Louisiana	Jeff Landry	University of Southwestern Louisiana (1999)		Loyola University (2004)
Maine	Janet Mills	University of Massachusetts		University of Maine
Maryland	Wes Moore	Johns Hopkins University (2001)	University of Oxford (2004)
Massachusetts	Maura Healey	Harvard University (1992)		Northeastern University (1998)
Michigan	Gretchen Whitmer	Michigan State University (1998)		Michigan State University (1993)
Minnesota	Tim Walz	Chadron State College (1989)	Minnesota State University (2001)
Mississippi	Tate Reeves	Millsaps College (1996)
Missouri	Mike Parson
Montana	Greg Gianforte
Nebraska	Jim Pillen	University of Nebraska (1979)					Kansas State University (1983)
Nevada	Joe Lombardo	University of Nevada, Las Vegas	University of Nevada, Las Vegas
New Hampshire	Chris Sununu	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1998)
New Jersey	Phil Murphy	Harvard University	University of Pennsylvania
New Mexico	Michelle Lujan Grisham	University of New Mexico (1981)		University of New Mexico (1987)
New York	Kathy Hochul	Syracuse University		Catholic University
North Carolina	Roy Cooper	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1979)		University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1982)
North Dakota	Doug Burgum	North Dakota State University (1978)	Stanford University (1980)
Ohio	Mike DeWine	Miami University of Ohio (1969)		Ohio Northern University (1972)
Oklahoma	Kevin Stitt	Oklahoma State University (1996)
Oregon	Tina Kotek	University of Oregon (1990)	University of Washington (1998)
Pennsylvania	Josh Shapiro	University of Rochester (1992)		Georgetown University (2002)
Rhode Island	Dan McKee	Assumption College	Harvard University
South Carolina	Henry McMaster	University of South Carolina (1969)		University of South Carolina (1973)
South Dakota	Kristi Noem	South Dakota State University (2012)
Tennessee	Bill Lee	Auburn University
Texas	Greg Abbott	University of Texas, Austin (1981)		Vanderbilt University (1984)
Utah	Spencer Cox	Utah State University		Washington and Lee University
Vermont	Phil Scott	University of Vermont (1980)
Virginia	Glenn Youngkin	Rice University	Harvard University
Washington	Jay Inslee	University of Washington (1973)		Willamette University (1976)
West Virginia	Jim Justice	Marshall University	Marshall University
Wisconsin	Tony Evers	University of Wisconsin, Madison (1973)	University of Wisconsin, Madison (1976)		University of Wisconsin, Madison (1986)
Wyoming	Mark Gordon	Middlebury College (1979)

Lieutenant Governors

Last updated February 7, 2024

Degrees earned by lieutenant governors
State	Name	Bachelor's	Master's	JD	Ph.D.	MD	Other
Alabama	Will Ainsworth	Auburn University
Alaska	Nancy Dahlstrom	Wayland Baptist University (1994)	University of LaVerne (1997)
Arkansas	Leslie Rutledge	University of Arkansas (1998)		University of Arkansas at Little Rock (2001)
California	Eleni Kounalakis	Dartmouth College (1989)	University of California, Berkeley (1992)
Colorado	Dianne Primavera	Regis College (1972)	University of Northern Colorado (1975)
Connecticut	Susan Bysiewicz	Yale University		Duke University
Delaware	Bethany Hall-Long	Thomas Jefferson University	Medical University of South Carolina		George Mason University
Florida	Jeanette Nuñez	Florida International University	Florida International University
Georgia	Burt Jones	University of Georgia (2003)
Hawaii	Sylvia Luke	University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (1989)		University of San Francisco School of Law (1995)
Idaho	Scott Bedke	Brigham Young University (1981)
Illinois	Juliana Stratton	University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (1987)		DePaul University (1992)
Indiana	Suzanne Crouch	Purdue University
Iowa	Adam Gregg	Central College (2006)		Drake University (2009)
Kansas	David Toland	University of Kansas	University of Kansas
Kentucky	Jacqueline Coleman	Centre College (2004)	University of Louisville (2008)
Louisiana	Billy Nungesser
Maryland	Aruna Miller	Missouri University of Science and Technology (1989)
Massachusetts	Kim Driscoll	Salem State University (1989)		Massachusetts School of Law (1994)
Michigan	Garlin Gilchrist II	University of Michigan
Minnesota	Peggy Flanagan	University of Minnesota (2002)
Mississippi	Delbert Hosemann	Notre Dame University (1969)		University of Mississippi (1972)			New York University (L.L.M., 1973)
Missouri	Mike Kehoe
Montana	Kristen Juras	University of Montana		Georgia School of Law
Nebraska	Joe Kelly	University of Nebraska		University of Nebraska College of Law
Nevada	Stavros Anthony	Wayne State University (1980)	University of Nevada, Las Vegas (1987)		University of Nevada, Las Vegas (1999)
New Jersey	Tahesha Way	Brown University		University of Virginia
New Mexico	Howie Morales	Western New Mexico University	Western New Mexico University (1998)		New Mexico State University
New York	Antonio Delgado	Colgate University (1999)	University of Oxford (2001)	Harvard University (2005)
North Carolina	Mark Robinson	University of North Carolina at Greensboro
North Dakota	Tammy Miller	Minnesota State University Moorhead (1982)	Minnesota State University Moorhead (1996)
Ohio	Jon Husted	University of Dayton (1989)	University of Dayton (1993)
Oklahoma	Matt Pinnell	Oral Roberts University
Pennsylvania	Austin Davis	University of Pittsburgh (2012)
Rhode Island	Sabina Matos	Rhode Island College
South Carolina	Pamela Evette	Cleveland State University
South Dakota	Larry Rhoden
Tennessee	Randy McNally	Memphis State University (1967)	University of Tennessee, Memphis (1969)
Texas	Dan Patrick	University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Utah	Deidre Henderson	Brigham Young University (2022)
Vermont	David Zuckerman	University of Vermont (1995)
Virginia	Winsome Sears	Old Dominion University	Regent University
Washington	Denny Heck	Evergreen State College
West Virginia	Craig Blair
Wisconsin	Sara Rodriguez	The Johns Hopkins University Illinois Wesleyan University	The Johns Hopkins University

Attorneys General

Last updated February 7, 2024

Degrees earned by attorneys general
State	Name	Bachelor's	Master's	JD	Ph.D.	MD	Other
Alabama	Steve Marshall	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1987)		University of Alabama (1990)
Alaska	Treg Taylor	Brigham Young University		Brigham Young University
Arizona	Kris Mayes	Arizona State University (1994)	Columbia University (1999)	Arizona State University (2003)
Arkansas	Tim Griffin	Hendrix College (1990)	United States Army War College (2018)	Tulane University Law School (1994)
California	Rob Bonta	Yale University		Yale University
Colorado	Phil Weiser	Swarthmore College (1990)		New York University (1994)
Connecticut	William Tong	Brown University (1995)		University of Chicago (2000)
Delaware	Kathy Jennings	University of Delaware		Villanova University (1978)
Florida	Ashley B. Moody	University of Florida	University of Florida	University of Florida			Stetson University (L.L.M.)
Georgia	Chris Carr	University of Georgia (1995)		University of Georgia (1999)
Hawaii	Anne Lopez	San José State University		University of Hawaii School of Law (2001)
Idaho	Raúl Labrador	Brigham Young University (1992)		University of Washington (1995)
Illinois	Kwame Raoul	DePaul University		Chicago-Kent College of Law
Indiana	Todd Rokita	Wabash College		Indiana University
Iowa	Brenna Bird	Drake University (1997)		University of Chicago Law School (2001)
Kansas	Kris Kobach	Harvard University (1988)	University of Oxford (1990)	Yale Law School (1995)	University of Oxford (1992)
Kentucky	Russell Coleman	University of Kentucky (1998)		University of Kentucky (2004)
Louisiana	Liz Murrill	Louisiana State University (1985)	Pepperdine University (2010)	Louisiana State University (1991)
Maine	Aaron Frey	Saint Anselm College		Roger Williams University
Maryland	Anthony Brown	Harvard University (1984)		Harvard University (1992)
Massachusetts	Andrea Campbell	Princeton University (2004)		University of California at Los Angeles (2009)
Michigan	Dana Nessel	University of Michigan		Wayne State University
Minnesota	Keith Ellison	Wayne State University (1987)		University of Minnesota (1990)
Mississippi	Lynn Fitch	University of Mississippi		University of Mississippi
Missouri	Andrew Bailey	University of Missouri-Columbia		University of Missouri School of Law
Montana	Austin Knudsen	Montana State University - Bozeman		University of Montana
Nebraska	Mike Hilgers	Baylor University (2001)		University of Chicago Law School (2004)
Nevada	Aaron D. Ford	Texas A&M University, College Station (1994)	George Washington University Ohio State University	Ohio State University	Ohio State University
New Hampshire	John Formella	Florida State University		George Washington University
New Jersey	Matt Platkin	Stanford University		Stanford Law School
New Mexico	Raul Torrez	Harvard University (1999)	London School of Economics (2001)	Stanford Law School (2005)
New York	Letitia James	City University of New York, Lehman (1981)	Columbia University	Howard University (1989)
North Carolina	Josh Stein	Dartmouth College	Harvard University	Harvard University
North Dakota	Drew Wrigley	University of North Dakota (1988)		American University (1991)
Ohio	Dave Yost	Ohio State University		Capital University
Oklahoma	Gentner Drummond	Oklahoma State University (1984)		Georgetown University (1995)
Oregon	Ellen Rosenblum	University of Oregon (1971)		University of Oregon (1975)
Pennsylvania	Michelle Henry	Allegheny College (1991)		Widener University School of Law
Rhode Island	Peter Neronha	Boston College (1985)		Boston College (1989)
South Carolina	Alan Wilson	Francis Marion University (1996)		University of South Carolina (2002)
South Dakota	Marty Jackley	South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (1992)		University of South Dakota (1995)
Tennessee	Jonathan Skrmetti	George Washington University (1999) University of Oxford (2001)		Harvard Law School (2004)
Texas	Ken Paxton	Baylor University (1985)	Baylor University (1986)	University of Virginia (1991)
Utah	Sean D. Reyes	Brigham Young University (1994)		University of California, Berkeley (1997)
Vermont	Charity Clark	University of Vermont (1997)		Boston College School of Law (2005)
Virginia	Jason Miyares	James Madison University		College of William and Mary
Washington	Bob Ferguson	University of Washington		New York University
West Virginia	Patrick Morrisey	Rutgers University, New Brunswick (1989)		Rutgers University, Newark (1992)
Wisconsin	Josh Kaul	Yale University		Stanford University
Wyoming	Bridget Hill	University of Wyoming		University of Wyoming

Secretaries of State

Last updated February 7, 2024

Degrees earned by secretaries of state
State	Name	Bachelor's	Master's	JD	Ph.D.	MD	Other
Alabama	Wes Allen	University of Alabama (1998)	Troy University (2001)
Arizona	Adrian Fontes	Arizona State University (1998)		University of Denver College of Law (2000)
Arkansas	John Thurston	Agape College
California	Shirley Weber	University of California - Los Angeles	University of California - Los Angeles		University of California - Los Angeles
Colorado	Jena Griswold	Whitman College (2006)		University of Pennsylvania (2011)
Connecticut	Stephanie Thomas	New York University (1991)	New School (1996)
Delaware	Jeffrey W. Bullock	University of Delaware
Florida	Cord Byrd	University of North Florida (1993)		St. Thomas University (1997)
Georgia	Brad Raffensperger	Western University	Georgia State University
Idaho	Phil McGrane	University of Washington (2005)	Boise State University (2014)	University of Denver College of Law (2010)
Illinois	Alexi Giannoulias	Boston University (1998)		Tulane University School of Law (2002)
Indiana	Diego Morales	Indiana University	Purdue University Tilburg University
Iowa	Paul Pate	Kirkwood Community College (1978)
Kansas	Scott Schwab	Fort Hays University
Kentucky	Michael Adams	University of Louisville		Harvard University
Louisiana	Nancy Landry	Louisiana State University		Louisiana State University
Maine	Shenna Bellows	Middlebury College
Maryland	Susan Lee	University of Maryland (1976)		University of San Francisco School of Law (1982)
Massachusetts	William Galvin	Boston College (1972)		Suffolk University (1976)
Michigan	Jocelyn Benson	Wellesley College	University of Oxford	Harvard University
Minnesota	Steve Simon	Tufts University (1992)		University of Minnesota (1996)
Mississippi	Michael D. Watson Jr.	University of Mississippi		University of Mississippi
Missouri	Jay Ashcroft	Missouri University of Science and Technology	Missouri University of Science and Technology	Saint Louis University
Montana	Christi Jacobsen	Carroll College	University of Montana
Nebraska	Bob Evnen	Michigan State University		University of Southern California
Nevada	Cisco Aguilar	University of Arizona	University of Arizona	University of Arizona
New Hampshire	David Scanlan	West Virginia University
New Jersey	Tahesha Way	Brown University		University of Virginia
New Mexico	Maggie Toulouse Oliver	University of New Mexico	University of New Mexico
New York	Robert Rodriguez	Yale University	New York University
North Carolina	Elaine Marshall	University of Maryland, College Park (1968)		Campbell University (1981)
North Dakota	Michael Howe	North Dakota State University (2010)
Ohio	Frank LaRose	Ohio State University
Oklahoma	Josh Cockroft
Oregon	LaVonne Griffin-Valade	Western Oregon University		Portland State University
Pennsylvania	Al Schmidt	Allegheny College			Brandeis University
Rhode Island	Gregg Amore	Providence College (1988)	New England College (2010)
South Carolina	Mark Hammond	Newberry College (1986)	Clemson University (1988)
South Dakota	Monae Johnson
Tennessee	Tre Hargett	University of Memphis	University of Memphis
Texas	Jane Nelson	University of North Texas (1972)
Vermont	Sarah Copeland Hanzas	University of Vermont (1992, 1993)
Virginia	Kelly Gee	William & Mary University	Virginia Tech
Washington	Steve Hobbs	University of Washington	University of Washington
West Virginia	Mac Warner	United States Military Academy		West Virginia University			JAG University (L.L.M.) University of Virginia (L.L.M.)
Wisconsin	Sarah Godlewski	George Mason University
Wyoming	Chuck Gray	University of Pennsylvania (2012)

Have information about an official's educational background not yet included on this page? Send us an email and we'll get it added.

See also

• Governor
• Lieutenant Governor
• Attorney General
• Secretary of State
• Where did your governor go to school?
• Education policy by state

Footnotes

v • e State executive offices Offices Governor • Lt. Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Auditor • Superintendent of Schools • Insurance Commissioner • Controller • Agriculture Commissioner • Natural Resources Commissioner • Labor Commissioner • Public Service Commissioner States Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming Elections 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 Features Chart of state executive officers • Compensation • Gubernatorial power comparison • How gubernatorial vacancies are filled • Irregular office changes • State executive officials serving in home states • State government trifectas • State of the state addresses • Term limits