A college dropout is someone who has matriculated in an institution of higher learning, but has left his or her studies unfinished without the intention of completing.

This has become, in some cases, a status symbol given the success of some famous college dropouts.

Famous college dropouts

Authors

• Edward Albee — Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut
• William Faulkner — University of Mississippi
• F. Scott Fitzgerald — Princeton University
• Jack Kerouac — Columbia University
• Edgar Allan Poe — The University of Virginia
• John Steinbeck — Stanford University
• Walter Stewart — University of Toronto

Comics

• Woody Allen — New York University and City College of New York
• Dan Aykroyd — Carleton University, Ottawa
• Ellen DeGeneres — University of New Orleans
• Rosie O'Donnell — Dickinson College and Boston University
• Steve Martin — Long Beach State College
• Jhonen Vasquez – DeAnza College

Computer innovators

• Paul Allen — Washington State University
• Michael Dell — University of Texas at Austin
• Larry Ellison — University of Chicago
• Shawn Fanning — Northeastern University
• Bill Gates — Harvard College
• Wayne Inouye — University of California, Berkeley
• Steve Jobs — Reed College in Portland, Oregon
• Steve Wozniak — University of Colorado

Entrepreneurs

• Barry Diller — University of California, Los Angeles
• David Geffen — University of Texas at Austin and Brooklyn College, NY
• John H. Johnson — University of Chicago and Northwestern University
• Howard Jonas — Harvard College
• Dean Kamen — Worcester Polytechnic Institute
• Lief Larson
• John Mackey — University of Texas at Austin
• Tom Monaghan — University of Michigan
• Ted Turner — Brown University
• Jann Wenner — University of California, Berkeley

Movies and television

• Michael Almereyda — Harvard College
• Paul Thomas Anderson — New York University
• Warren Beatty — Northwestern University
• Kristen Bell — New York University
• Jessica Biel — Tufts University
• Jack Black — University of California, Los Angeles
• Stan Brakhage — Dartmouth College
• Cindy Crawford — Northwestern University
• John Cusack — New York University
• Matt Damon — Harvard College
• Claire Danes — Yale University
• James Dean — University of California, Los Angeles
• James Franco — University of California, Los Angeles
• Jim Carrey
• Richard Gere — University of Massachusetts at Amherst
• Asha Gill — Kingston Polytechnic
• Jake Gyllenhaal — Columbia University
• Tom Hanks — Cal State University, Sacramento
• Ethan Hawke — Carnegie Mellon University
• Dustin Hoffman — Santa Monica College
• Peter Jennings — Carleton University; University of Ottawa; Rider College
• Michael Keaton — Kent State University
• Andie MacDowell — Winthrop College (now Winthrop University)
• John Malkovich — Illinois State University (a diploma was awarded to him in 2005)
• Eva Mendes — California State University, Northridge
• Bill Murray — Regis College
• Gwyneth Paltrow — University of California, Santa Barbara
• Brad Pitt — University of Missouri
• Nicole Richie — University of Arizona
• Rebecca Romijn — University of Santa Cruz
• Elisabeth Shue — Radcliffe College (graduated 2000 with B.A., Government)
• Kevin Smith — New School for Social Research (now The New School)
• Steven Spielberg — California State University, Long Beach (went back to school and graduated 2002)
• Ben Stiller — University of California, Los Angeles
• Marisa Tomei — New York University
• Brian Williams — Catholic University of America
• James Woods — Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Music

• Paula Abdul — California State University, Northridge
• Rivers Cuomo — Harvard College (graduated 2006 with B.A., English)
• Bob Dylan — University of Minnesota
• Faith Evans — Fordham University
• Perry Farrell
• Larry Gatlin — University of Houston (dropped out in late 1970s, returned Fall 1990 and received a baccalaureate degree)
• Josh Groban — Carnegie Mellon University
• Khanoda — Adelphi University
• John Lennon — Liverpool College of Art
• Madonna — University of Michigan
• Jim Morrison — U.C.L.A.
• Yoko Ono — Sarah Lawrence College
• Trent Reznor — Allegheny College
• Brian Transeau — Berklee College of Music
• Eric West
• Kanye West — Chicago State University
• Frank Zappa — Chaffey Junior College, San Bernardino
• Anthony Kiedis – UCLA

Others

• Tom Leykis — Fordham University
• Frank Lloyd Wright — University of Wisconsin

See also

• List of high school dropouts

External links

• College Dropout Alumni Association

Academia | College dropouts

Studienabbrecher