March 6, 2019 Alma Maters of the 116th Congress BY TAYLOR MILLER THOMAS, POLITICO PRO DATAPOINT Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Reps. Ron Kind (R-Wis.) and Van Taylor (R-Texas) are 4 of 18 members with Harvard undergraduate degrees, the most common alma mater in Congress. The cohort represents three percent of Congress – although Harvard, with a total undergraduate enrollment of 6,699 in the 2017-18 school year, represents less than 0.1 percent of total U.S. undergraduate enrollment. Forty-six members attended Ivy League schools, the most of any system, though these schools represent less than a percent of total U.S. postsecondary enrollment. Nearly 200 schools can boast of one current Congressional alum. Members of Congress share responsibility for setting federal education policy, including postsecondary education, an experience that nearly all lawmakers have in common — 519 of 538 sitting Senators, Representatives and non-voting delegates have an undergraduate degree. The collegiate backgrounds of Congress, however, look very different from the typical American educational experience. While almost the entire legislative body has at least a bachelor’s degree, only 21 percent of the country as a whole does. Graduate and doctoral degrees are also more common in Congress than they are across the rest of the country. Senators, in particular, are likelier to have attended private college and universities, compared with most Americans and members in the House. Massachusetts and the District of Columbia: Most popular college destinations Congress members’ alma maters span from the University of Guam to the College of the Atlantic in Maine. Massachusetts and California undergraduate schools yielded the most degrees, 39 and 59 total, respectively. Each of these states is a leader for separate reasons. Massachusetts was the most popular out-of-state college choice — 34 members who attended college in Massachusetts came from other states, while 38 California members stayed close to home and attended college within the Golden State. Top Congressional alma maters * Includes Brian Mast (R-Fla.), who has a degree from the Harvard Extension School ** Not a system, but grouped based on historical association *** Includes West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy. Harvard 18* 15 12 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 Stanford Georgetown Princeton Univ. of Wisc.-Madison Brigham Young Univ. Dartmouth West Point UC-Berkeley UCLA Univ. of Missouri Yale Most popular college systems 46** 18 13 12 10*** 9 8 8 8 7 Ivy League Univ. of Calif. System Cal State System Univ. System of Florida U.S. Service Academies UNC System Univ. of Mo. System Univ. System of Georgia Univ. System of Ohio Univ. of Wisc. System SD 4 FL 18 WY NM 3 ID 2 MT 2 ND 2 NE 3 KS 6 OK 6 AR 5 LA 5 MS 9 AL 9 TN 14 KY 5 WV 1 IN 11 IL 18 WI 10 MI 15 OH 16 VA 17 NC 16 SC 10 PA 16 NY 32 ME 3 GA 13 AK 1 UT 10 OR 5 NV 4 CO 7 AZ 5 HI 3 MN 7 IA 7 MO 10 TX 27 CA 59 WA 6 Congressional alma maters by state 12 CT 25 DC 0 DE 39 MA 3 VT 11 MD 2 Puerto Rico 2 Guam 6 NH 17 NJ 4 RI This map shows all undergraduate and associate degrees earned by members of the House and Senate; some members have more than one undergraduate degree or have both an associate’s and bachelor’s degree. PERCENTAGE WITH DEGREES TOTAL DEGREES Harvard, Ivy League, University of California system lead most popular institutions Types of college degrees held by Congress compared with U.S. population Master’s 37% 29% 9% Doctoral 6% 3% Bachelor’s 98% 21% 96% Professional 47% 33% 2% 8% LEGAL MEDICAL The U.S. Census Bureau defines professional degrees as those beyond bachelor’s degrees, including law, medical, dental and similar degrees. Nearly all representatives and senators have an undergraduate degree, compared with only 21 percent of all Americans 25 years or older. Trends for medical and doctoral degrees track slightly closer to the national rate, while lawyers are significantly overrepresented. With the exception of medical degrees, Democrats are likelier to have degrees at all levels compared with Republicans. Popular out-of-state MA DC NY CA VA 34 25 18 15 13 Popular in-state CA TX NY FL NC, MI, OH, PA 10 38 22 14 12 Where Congress earned their undergraduate degrees Representatives, Republicans likelier to have attended public universities PUBLIC PRIVATE COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY MILITARY SCHOOLS Sources: U.S. Congress, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Census Bureau, POLITICO Pro Congressional Directory, Roll Call Public institutions account for a higher total of degrees awarded across the entire U.S. population — about 64 percent of undergraduate degrees awarded in 2015 were from public colleges and universities. This trend holds true for House members, where 57 percent of all undergraduate degrees earned by Representatives were from public institutions. However, Senators were likelier to have attended private colleges and universities — 52 percent of their undergraduate degrees were from private schools. Republicans Democrats 35% 63% 3% 51% 49% 1% U.S. 2015 36% 64% House members 41% 57% 1% Senators 52% 45% 3% Americans 25 or older 1.5% 1.9% DEM GOP 287 255 115 82 132 84 5 19 17 7 DEM GOP 1 None 5 10 20+ Note: Sens. Angus King (I-Maine) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) caucus with the Democrats and are included in the party’s count. The total number of bachelor’s degrees exceed the total number of lawmakers because some hold more than one degree. Click here for more information about DataPoint, and your Account Manager will follow up shortly.