34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (2024)

These talented stars made their higher education a priority and sought out the most exclusive institutions in the country to do so. Scroll down below to find out which Ivy league schools your favorite celebrities attended.

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Julie Bowen - Brown University

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (1)

The Modern Family star graduated from the Rhode Island Ivy in 1991 with a degree in Renaissance Studies.

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Casey Affleck - Columbia University

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (2)

The Oscar-winner studied at Columbia for two years before dropping out to pursue acting full-time.

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Angela Bassett - Yale University

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (3)

The Oscar nominee graduated from Yale with a B.A. in African-American studies in 1980, returning shortly after to earn an M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama.

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Elizabeth Banks - University of Pennsylvania

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (4)

The Wet Hot American Summer star majored in communications with a concentration in theater arts, graduating magna cum laude in '96.

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Jordana Brewster - Yale University

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (5)

Before things got Fast and Furious, Brewster studied English at Yale. The actress graduated from the Ivy in '03, taking part in a true family tradition (her grandfather was once the university's president).

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Connie Britton - Dartmouth College

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (6)

The celebrated TV actress graduated from the New Hampshire school in 1989 with a degree in Asian Studies.

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Claire Danes - Yale University

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (7)

Has anyone ever had a conversation about Claire Danes and not discussed her time at Yale? It's doubtful. Anyway, the My So Called Life star began studying psychology at the prestigious school in '98, dropping out two years later to focus on her acting career.

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Matt Damon - Harvard University

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (8)

The Boston native started at Harvard in '88, taking time off here and there before eventually dropping out to pursue his acting career.

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Jake Gyllenhaal - Columbia University

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (10)

Like his sister Maggie, Jake attended Columbia with a major in Eastern Religions. Unlike his big sis, Jake dropped out after two years.

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Rashida Jones - Harvard University

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Jones graduated from Harvard in '97 with a degree in acting.

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Issa Rae - Stanford University

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HBO's comedic "It" girl graduated from the prestigious California school in '07 with a degree in African and African-American studies.

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James Franco - Columbia University

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The ultra-educated actor graduated from Columbia's MFA program in 2010. The same year, Franco also enrolled in Yale's English and Film Ph.D. program.

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Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Columbia University

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (14)

JGL took a break from acting in 2000 to study History, Literature, and French Poetry at Columbia. During his fourth year at the urban Ivy, just shy of earning his diploma, Gordon-Levitt returned to acting.

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Ashley Judd - Harvard University

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (15)

In 2010, the Someone Like You star graduated with a master's degree in public administration from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

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Mindy Kaling - Dartmouth College

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The Mindy Project star graduated from Dartmouth in '01 with a degree in playwriting.

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Ellie Kemper - Princeton University

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (17)

Although Netflix heroine Kimmy Schmidt erred in her brush with the Ivy League, Kemper herself graduated from New Jersey's finest in '02 with a B.A. in English.

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John Legend - University of Pennsylvania

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (18)

Not only did the world-famous crooner attend an Ivy League, he also enrolled at just 16! Legend studied English with a focus on African American lit before graduating in '99.

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Laura Linney - Brown University

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (19)

The Ozark star graduated in '86 with a degree in theater arts. She also graduated from The Julliard School.

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John Krasinski - Brown University

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (20)

The Office alum graduated in '01, just a few years before he became a household name with his starring role in the NBC comedy.

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Maggie Gyllenhaal - Columbia University

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (21)

Jake's famous big sis followed through with her education, graduating with a B.A. in English Literature in '99.

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Mira Sorvino - Harvard University

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (22)

A foil to one of the characters for which she is best known (Romy of Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion), Sorvino graduated magna cum laude in '90 with a degree in East Asian studies.

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Lupita Nyong'o - Yale University

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (23)

The Oscar-winner attended the Yale School of Drama, earning an MFA in 2012—just a year prior to the release of her career-making performance in 12 Years a Slave.

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Tracee Ellis Ross - Brown University

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The Black-ish star earned a degree in theatre from the Rhode Island Ivy, graduating with the class of '94.

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Shonda Rhimes - Dartmouth College

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Network TV's super-producer queen earned a degree in English with Creative Writing in '91.

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Brooke Shields - Princeton University

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Shields took a break from show biz to attend Princeton, where she earned a degree in Romance Languages in '87.

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Jenny Slate - Columbia University

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The Landline star graduated from the N.Y.C. Ivy in '04.

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Reese Witherspoon - Stanford University

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Witherspoon entered Stanford as an English major in the mid-'90s but has been "on leave" since 1996.

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Allison Williams - Yale University

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A graduate of the class of 2010, Williams completed her English degree just two years prior to landing her career-making role on Girls.

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Emma Watson - Brown University

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The Harry Potter alum completed an English degree at Brown in 2014.

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Julia Stiles - Columbia University

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Stiles stalled the pace of her acting career in 2000 when she enrolled as an English major at Columbia. She graduated in 2005.

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Ivanka Trump - University of Pennsylvania

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Keeping with family tradition, Ivanka graduated from U.Penn's Wharton Business School in 2004. Ivanka's father and two of her three adult siblings also attended the Pennsylvania Ivy.

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Sigourney Weaver - Yale and Stanford University

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The Alien star earned a B.A. in English at Stanford in '72 and later attended Yale Drama School.

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Meryl Streep - Yale University

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The Oscar-winner earned her MFA from Yale Drama School in 1975.

Sharon Stone Called Out Hollywood's Idolization of Meryl Streep

34 Celebrities Who Went to Ivy League Schools (and Also Stanford) (2024)

FAQs

Who got into all 8 Ivy League schools? ›

Meet Ashley Adirika, an extraordinary Florida teen who achieved the seemingly impossible dream of being accepted to all eight Ivy League schools!

Which Ivy is the hardest to get into? ›

1. Harvard University. The most challenging Ivy League school to get into is Harvard, established in 1636 and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. According to Harvard Admissions, only 2,008 out of 43,330 candidates were accepted to the college.

What celebrities are currently at Stanford? ›

Who are some of the famous students currently at Stanford University? In the Class of 2018, we have AnnaSophia Robb (actress), Jennifer Gates (Bill Gates's daughter), and Elizabeth Price (gymnast) . In other classes there is Kylee , Maggie Steffens and Rachael Flatt .

Was Stanford ever in the Ivy League? ›

Is Stanford an Ivy League School? Stanford does not belong to the Ivy League — that pack of New England universities that includes centuries-old colleges like Harvard and Yale — but it is the most elite university on the West Coast, topping any list of public Ivies and Ivy equivalents.

Can I get into Harvard with a 3.7 GPA? ›

Can I Get Into Harvard With a 3.7 GPA? Harvard is highly competitive, so it may be challenging to get in with a 3.7 GPA. The average GPA for entering Harvard students is 3.9.

Do you need straight A's to get into Harvard? ›

Average GPA: 4

With a GPA of 4, Harvard requires you to be at the top of your class. You'll need nearly straight A's in all your classes to compete with other applicants. Furthermore, you should be taking hard classes - AP or IB courses - to show that college-level academics is a breeze.

What is the #1 hardest school to get into? ›

Niche, a ranking and review site, recently published its list of the “2023 Hardest Colleges to Get Into.” Using data from the U.S. Department of Education on various colleges' acceptance rates and SAT/ACT scores, they found, unsurprisingly, Harvard University to be the most difficult college to get into.

What is the #1 top college? ›

National Universities
  • #1. Princeton University.
  • #2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  • #3. Harvard University (tie)

What is the prettiest Ivy school? ›

Which Ivy League schools have the prettiest campuses in the US and the world? Harvard, Princeton, and Yale have the prettiest campuses in the us and the world.

Was Elon Musk in Stanford? ›

Actually, Elon Musk attended Stanford University in 1995 to pursue a Ph. D. program in Applied Physics and Materials Science. However, he left the program.

What billionaires went to Stanford? ›

Who Are Some Famous Stanford Alumni Who Became Billionaires? Stanford University in Stanford, California, has produced the second-most billionaire alumni, at 74. Famous Stanford attendees include Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, actress Reese Witherspoon, and golf legend Tiger Woods.

Did JFK go to Stanford? ›

In 1940, Kennedy graduated cum laude from Harvard with a Bachelor of Arts in government, concentrating on international affairs. That fall, he enrolled at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and audited classes, but he left after a semester to help his father complete his memoirs as an American ambassador.

What are the 8 little Ivies? ›

The Little Ivies
  • Amherst College.
  • Bates College.
  • Bowdoin College.
  • Colby College.
  • Connecticut College.
  • Hamilton College.
  • Haverford College.
  • Lafayette College.
Apr 30, 2024

Is Duke not an ivy? ›

Duke University is another prestigious university that is not an Ivy League college. However, it outranks several Ivy League schools on many college rankings lists.

Is Brown an Ivy League? ›

The Ivy League universities are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University.

Are there 12 or 8 Ivy League schools? ›

The eight members of the Ivy League are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University. The conference headquarters are in Princeton, New Jersey.

How many hidden Ivies are there? ›

63 Hidden Ivy League Schools: List + How to Get In.

Why is MIT not an Ivy League? ›

Ivy League schools may have prestige and history, but they aren't the only great universities in the U.S. Schools like Stanford, MIT, and the University of Chicago often outrank Ivies in terms of academics. However, since they aren't in the same athletic conference, they technically aren't Ivy League schools.

How many CEOs went to Ivy League schools? ›

Only 9.8% hold an Ivy League MBA. Of the 20 CEOs of the nation's biggest companies by revenue, only 1 attended an Ivy (Amazon's Andy Jassy, who went to Harvard) 14 of these top 20 CEOs attended public colleges, including Apple's Tim Cook, who went to Auburn University.

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