Showing off your education is a critical component of most resumes. It can indicate that you have specialist knowledge in your field and, even if it's not related to your current career path, can show that you have the capacity for high-level learning. In this article, you'll learn how to list education on your resume and see examples that you can use for inspiration as you craft your own.
As with much of resume writing, the content and format of your resume Education section is fluid and will depend on where you are in your career. Still, it's important that you get it right to prove you're qualified for the job you want.
It sounds simple initially – when listing education on your resume, you just add the degrees you've obtained and the schools where you got them.
But wait! There's more.
In some instances, it may be appropriate to include your GPA, some relevant coursework, or even give a nod to a major project you worked on. Much of this depends on whether you're fresh out of school or have some experience under your belt.
Here are some other things to consider when writing the Education section of your resume:
Let's start with the basics of how to list education on your resume.
When you finally graduated and received your diploma, what did it say? For example, you may have achieved a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Master of Business Administration (MBA).
Whatever it was, it's the most important education detail you can put on your resume, because it's the official designation of your education.
One of the key things to remember is that you should list your degrees in reverse chronological order. That means you start with the most recent one (which is likely to be your highest) and work backward. Once you get into college there is no reason to include high school education. Employers know that you have to finish high school to get into college, so they'll assume you graduated.
Remember that one degree type can be applied to a variety of fields of study. For example, a Bachelor of Science degree can be earned for both physics and computer science. Therefore, in addition to the degree itself, you must include the major for which the degree was earned. This way, a hiring manager knows exactly what topics you've studied.
If you completed any minors or concentrations, you can include those too.
Add some context to your education by listing the university, college, or institution where you went to school. This is especially important if you attended a well-respected program in your field, because it will add more credibility and gravitas to your resume.
The timeframe that you were in school is generally something you don't need to worry about including – unless you're still in school or graduated within the last year. Additionally, you might add the dates you were in school if you need to explain a gap in employment. Outside of these conditions, you should leave off the timeframe.
Whether or not you include your GPA in the Education section of a resume depends on many factors. If you earned your degree 20 years ago, your GPA is likely a defunct measure of your current abilities, so you can leave it off. If you earned your degree recently, however, adding your GPA can be a great move – but only if it's 3.5 or higher. You can also indicate any distinctions you earned based on your grades, such as summa cum laude, if applicable.
If you were in an honors society, you can list your membership. If you were part of a fraternity or sorority, it's a toss-up. While you might think this is a good inclusion because it demonstrates you were participating in service-related activities and so on, Greek rivalries can extend way past college years and you wouldn't want to accidentally tip off your hiring manager that you belonged to a rival group.
Outside of formal education, you may also have taken the initiative to earn supplementary certifications or complete courses that are relevant to your field. Highlight these in your resume Education section, especially if they are on niche or high-level topics that prove your expertise far beyond a more generalized curriculum.
Bachelor of Business Administration | ABC University | 2021-2024
Certification: Project Management Professional (PMP) | Project Management Institute | 2024
Some of those basics are optional – as we mentioned, you wouldn't include the dates of your degree program if you've been out of school for more than a year. When you're learning how to list education on your resume, you may also have other questions and considerations. Here, we'll discuss how to add education to your resume in special circumstances.
Attending college may not be among the goals you've set for your life. That's okay!
Even if you decide to graduate high school and go straight to work, your career can still be rich and full. At this point, though, a lot of people ask if they should include high school on their resume.
A few rules of thumb about adding high school to the Education section of your resume:
Here's a resume education example you can refer to if your education ended with high school:
Diploma or GED [whichever is appropriate] | XYZ High School
Just because high school is the highest level of education you've obtained, that doesn't mean you can't take the opportunity to inject some relevant keywords into your resume. In the example above, the applicant has used the keyword accounting. That will make sure that their resume can be found when a recruiter searches their database for applicants with knowledge of accounting.
Expert tip: Check out our article on tailoring your resume to different jobs to understand how important relevant keywords are when writing your resume.
Once you graduate from college and start searching for your first entry-level position, it's assumed that you'll remove any information that refers to your high school activities and focus on your new undergrad degree.
The last point about adding extras is extremely important if you have little to no work experience. Mentioning that you were a Resident Advisor or won first place in a robotics competition could be the detail that puts your resume at the top of the yes pile.
Once you enter the world of Master's degrees and PhDs, the Education section of your resume becomes more robust and might include things such as the title of a dissertation, fellowships, or internships.
As before, always start with your most recent degree and work backward. Here's how to present education on your resume as an example showing higher degrees:
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) – Leadership Studies | CCC University
International Student Scholar
Dissertation: Exploring the Relationships of Principal Preparation Programs and Leadership Styles on School Accountability Indices
Master of Arts (MA) – Counseling | BBB University
Bachelor of Science (BSc) – Psychology (cum laude) | University of AAA
If you attended college at one institution – perhaps a community college – and then completed your education in another place, you only need to list the university where you completed your degree. All the employer wants to know is which college supplied you with your degree at the end of your education; they don't necessarily care about how you arrived at that destination. Save that resume space for more important information.
If you attended college but didn't graduate, you may want to list the relevant courses you took – especially if you made it to some of the higher-level classes, to demonstrate the skills you built or the disciplines you were exposed to during your coursework.
If you're still attending college for either your undergraduate or graduate degree, you can simply add an expected graduation year to this information. You can also add a list of courses you've completed, as long as:
If you earned a degree or certification more than 5 years ago, place your Education at the bottom of your resume and remove the graduation date. It's important to demonstrate you've earned the degree, but there's no need to draw attention to how long ago this occurred.
Doing so will allow you to focus your resume on your skills, accomplishments, and professional experience. For those who have many years of experience, academic education becomes less and less important as you move forward in your career. Your professional career will hold more weight at this stage.
If you're new to the workforce and your new degree is your main selling point, the Education section should appear toward the top of your resume, because
After you have a few years of relevant experience under your belt, the education section gets shifted to the bottom of your resume so your work history can take over the prime real estate at the top of the page.
Presenting your education on your resume in a thoughtful way can open a lot of employment doors. Here's what you should keep in mind as you write it:
Remember, there isn't one resume format that fits all job seekers. How you list education on your resume requires a strategic approach that depends on where you are in your career and the roles you're aiming for.
Find out if you're showcasing your education well on your resume by getting a free resume review from TopResume.
This article was updated in 2023 and 2024. It contains work by Amanda Augustine, Lauren Settembrino, Heather Rothbauer-Wanish and Marsha Hebert.
