Here Are All Colleges in the US Named After Presidents

There are a lot of colleges and universities named for American presidents, but not as many as you might think. Check out our list of colleges named after presidents.

Here Are All Colleges in the US Named After Presidents
Saul Rodriguez

It’s not unusual for colleges and universities in the United States to be named after presidents. This is quite natural in countries across the globe. For example, there is Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg in Germany, named after Albert VI of Austria and Ludwig I of Baden; or GIK Institute in Pakistan, named for the former president of Pakistan — Ghulam Ishaq Khan (GIK). Sometimes presidents played a direct role in the founding of the college while in other cases it’s purely named in honor of them.

Returning to the US, there are several four-year public and private colleges and universities named after American presidents. However, despite the US having had 46 presidents, there are far fewer institutions named for presidents than that number. Indeed, several four-year colleges in the US are actually named for one president. Furthermore, there are distinct patterns in which presidents have colleges named after them. For instance, American presidents who were part of the Founding Fathers group of colonial leaders have a disproportionate amount named for them, while post-Civil War presidents have very few.

Read on to learn about the colleges and universities in the US named for presidents.

All Colleges in the US Named for Presidents 

The criteria we used to generate the list of colleges named for US presidents was that they had to be four-year institutions, either public or private not-for-profit schools. Another critical aspect of creating this list of colleges and universities was differentiating between schools named for cities in which the city — but not the college — was named after a president. A good example of this is Andrew Jackson, who has many cities, particularly in the US South and Florida, named after him, yet the names of the colleges derive from the city’s name. These schools were excluded from our list. 

We also had to examine closely and eliminate colleges and universities whose names matched the last names of presidents yet turned out to be merely coincidental. For example, there are several schools with “Cleveland” in their name, but they derive the name from the city of Cleveland, which came from Moses Cleaveland. Similarly, there is a Johnson University in Tennessee, the state where President Andrew Johnson lived much of his life and served in several political positions; yet this Johnson University is named after a Protestant minister with the last name Johnson. 

Although its understandable that Founding Fathers who went on to become presidents, like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, have colleges named for them, there are many other popular or effective presidents from later periods of American history who do not have any schools named in their honor. Indeed, after Abraham Lincoln, president from 1861 to 1865, chronologically the next president to have a college named for him was Franklin Roosevelt, president from 1933 to 1944; not even his widely admired distant cousin President Theodore ``Teddy” Roosevelt has a four-year institution named after him.

So, let’s first go over the US presidents with no colleges are named for them:

  • President John Adams (1797-1801): There is an Adams State University in Colorado, but it is named for a Colorado legislator, Billy Adams.

  • President John Quincy Adams (1825-1829): Colleges with Quincy in their name are named for the city’s name being Quincy.

  • President Andrew Jackson (1829-1837): There are many colleges with Jackson in their name, but they derive from the city’s name, whether it’s Jackson or Jacksonville. However, there is a high likelihood that many cities named Jackson are for President Andrew Jackson, with Jacksonville being most notable in this sense.

  • President Martin Van Buren (1837-1841): The successor to Andrew Jackson got no love either.

  • President William Henry Harrison (1841): The first Whig president also got no love either.

  • President John Tyler (1841-1845): While there are colleges with Tyler in their name, such as the University of Texas at Tyler, these schools are named for the city. However, the city of Tyler, Texas, is named after President John Tyler, who oversaw the annexation of Texas as a state within the US.

  • President James Polk (1845-1849): This is tricky because there is a Polk State College in Florida, but it’s unclear if it was named for President Polk, especially since it was founded as recently as the 1960s.

  • President Zachary Taylor (1849-1850): The only four-year school with Taylor in its name is Taylor University in Indiana, which is named after Bishop William Taylor.

  • President Millard Fillmore (1850-1853): This mediocre president does not have a college named after him.

  • President James Buchanan (1857-1861): Another mediocre president who served from 1857-1861, he did nothing to prevent the secession of the South and didn’t receive a college named for him.

  • President Andrew Johnson (1865-1869): There is no college named for Lincoln’s successor. Despite hailing from Tennessee and there being a Johnson University in Tennessee, it is not named for President Andrew Johnson, but instead the Protestant minister Ashley S. Johnson.

  • President Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877): Surprisingly, there’s no college named for this two-term president and famous general of the Civil War.

  • President Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881): There are no colleges named for this forgettable Gilded Age president.

  • President James Garfield (1881): There are no colleges named for this president whose term was cut short by assassination.

  • President Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885): Garfield’s successor also has no colleges named for him.

  • President Grover Cleveland (1885-1889 and 1893-1897): While there are several colleges with Cleveland in their name, they came from the city’s name, which was named for General Moses Cleaveland.

  • President Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893): Like his ancestor William Henry Harrison, this Harrison doesn’t have a college named after him.

  • President William McKinley (1897-1901): This president, who was also assassinated, has no colleges named after him.

  • President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909): This popular and influential president surprisingly doesn’t have a college named after him, though his distant cousin Franklin Roosevelt does.

  • President William Taft (1909-1913): There is a junior college named Taft College, but it’s not a four-year institution and may just be named after its home city of Taft, California.

  • President Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921): Though there are some colleges with Wilson in their name, none are named after this president who oversaw America’s entry into World War I.

  • President Warren G. Harding (1921-1923): There is a Harding University, but it is named for James A. Harding.

  • President Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929): There are schools with Calvin in their name, but it refers to the Calvinist religious origins.

  • President Herbert Hoover (1929-1933): There is no college named after this president who led much of the country during the onset of the Great Depression in 1929.

  • President Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961): There is no college named after this very popular president and former general.

  • President John F. Kennedy (1961-1963): There are no four-year colleges named for this assassinated president.

  • President Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969): There are no colleges named for Lyndon Johnson, despite his excellent record when it comes to civil rights legislation.

  • President Richard Nixon (1969-1974): There are no colleges named for this president who resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal.

  • President Gerald Ford (1974-1977): There are no colleges named after Nixon’s successor.

  • President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981): There are no colleges named for this one-term Democrat.

  • President Ronald Reagan (1981-1989): This popular president and symbol of the 1980s does not have a college named after him.

  • President George H.W. Bush (1989-1993): There are no colleges named for Reagan’s successor.

  • President Bill Clinton (1993-2001): There is an HBCU college named Clinton College in South Carolina, but it is named for Bishop Caleb Isom Clinton of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.

  • President George W. Bush (2001-2009): Son of the other Bush president, this president doesn’t have a college named after him.

  • President Barack Obama (2009-2017): There are no colleges named after this fairly recent president.

  • President Donald Trump (2017-2021): Though he had a controversial for-profit Trump University, it was a real estate training program that ran from 2005 to 2010.

  • President Joe Biden (2021-current): There are no colleges named for this president.

1. George Washington University

Type: 4-year, private not-for-profit

Location: Washington, D.C.

Graduation rate: 84%

Undergraduate acceptance rate: 50%

Estimated tuition and required fees: $62,200

2. Thomas Jefferson University

Type: 4-year, private not-for-profit

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Graduation rate: 71%

Undergraduate acceptance rate: 78%

Estimated tuition and required fees: $44,350

3. James Madison University

Type: 4-year, public

Location: Harrisonburg, Virginia

Graduation rate: 82%

Undergraduate acceptance rate: 86%

Estimated tuition and required fees: $13,092 for in-state | $30,152 for out-of-state

4. (James) Monroe College

Type: 4-year, private not-for-profit

Location: Bronx, New York, New York

Graduation rate: 57%

Undergraduate acceptance rate: 39%

Estimated tuition and required fees: $17,442

5. Franklin Pierce University

Type: 4-year, private not-for-profit

Location: Rindge, New Hampshire

Graduation rate: 42%

Undergraduate acceptance rate: 89%

Estimated tuition and required fees: $43,155

6. (Abraham) Lincoln University

Type: 4-year, public

Location: Jefferson City, Missouri

Graduation rate: 26%

Undergraduate acceptance rate: 100%

Estimated tuition and required fees: $8,386 for in-state | $15,616 for out-of-state

7. (Abraham) Lincoln University

Type: 4-year, public

Location: Lincoln University, Pennsylvania

Graduation rate: 49%

Undergraduate acceptance rate: 80%

Estimated tuition and required fees: $11,910 for in-state | $18,456 for out-of-state

8. (Abraham) Lincoln University

Type: 4-year, private not-for-profit

Location: Oakland, California

Graduation rate: 73%

Undergraduate acceptance rate: 100%

Estimated tuition and required fees: $11,420

9. (Abraham) Lincoln Memorial University

Type: 4-year, private not-for-profit

Location: Harrogate, Tennessee

Graduation rate: 53%

Undergraduate acceptance rate: 70%

Estimated tuition and required fees: $25,180

10. (Franklin) Roosevelt University

Type: 4-year, private not-for-profit

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Graduation rate: 40%

Undergraduate acceptance rate: 92%

Estimated tuition and required fees: $33,068

11. (Harry) Truman State University

Type: 4-year, public

Location: Kirksville, Missouri

Graduation rate: 72%

Undergraduate acceptance rate: 61%

Estimated tuition and required fees: $9,014 for in-state | $17,036 for out-of-state

The Bottom Line on Colleges Named for Presidents

The pattern of which presidents received the honor of a college named after them makes a lot of sense for historical reasons. For example, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe all served consecutively as presidents, from 1801 to 1825; this was a period of political dominance by the Democratic-Republican Party or Jeffersonian democracy. The election of 1824 would mark the end of the so-called “Era of Good Feelings” when the US political scene was dominated by one party — the Democratic-Republican Party. After James Monroe’s second term ended in March 1825, the American political scene became divided, eventually resulting in a true two-party system pitting the Democratic-Republicans (later, just Democratic Party) against the Whigs (who eventually evolved and merged with other parties to become the Republican Party). The partisan nature of American politics between the election of 1824 and 1860 (the election of Lincoln and the year of Southern secession) might be why only one president from that period has a college named for him: Franklin Pierce.

Another important historical factor is the streak of weak or ineffective or short-lived or unpopular presidents in the era from 1837 to 1861 (the outbreak of the Civil War) and the era from 1877 to the election of 1896 — the so-called Gilded Age. This may help explain the large chronological gap in colleges named for presidents, spanning from President Lincoln in the mid-19th century to President Franklin Roosevelt in the mid-20th century. 

It's worth pointing out that a couple of these colleges named after presidents are well-regarded in terms of their academic credentials. Some examples include:

  • James Madison University, which ranked among the best colleges for biology in Virginia and boasts a great graduation rate of 82%.

  • George Washington University is one of the top colleges in D.C., frequently ranked highly by media outlets such as US News and, perhaps, second only to Georgetown University as the best school in D.C.

  • Truman State University, whose graduation rate of 72% is higher than the average graduation rate for all four-year colleges in Missouri. It also ranked among the best biology schools in Missouri.

Andrew DePietro

Author: Andrew DePietro

Senior Researcher, and Content Strategist

Andrew DePietro is a finance writer covering topics such as entrepreneurship, investing, real estate and college for BrokeScholar, Forbes, CreditKarma, and more.