One day near winter in 1620, a three-masted ship sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and stopped in a harbor on the North American continent. The ship carried a group of Puritans. They were persecuted by domestic religious forces, so they traveled across the ocean. There were also f

1 One day near winter in 2020, a three-mast ship crossed the Atlantic Ocean and stopped at a harbor in the North American continent. They missed the landing place on the Hudson River due to the storm at sea and came here. The ship carried a group of Puritans who were persecuted by domestic religious forces, so they traveled across the ocean. There were also free civilians who wanted to come here to create their own homes, and indentured workers who dreamed of making a fortune and selling their labor. They came to this newly opened land together. continent. The land they arrived at became the state of Massachusetts, the harbor they arrived at was Cape Cod, and the ship carrying hope across the ocean was the "Mayflower" that will remain in history. This voyage was hailed as the light of civilization and later became the foundation of the United States.

"Mayflower" oil painting / Picture source: Internet

After landing, these earliest immigrant Puritans began to open up the wilderness and established an autonomous government based on the consensus of the "Mayflower Compact." In 1636, in order to imitate the British University of Cambridge, provide education for future generations, and train priests, the Massachusetts colonial legislature built the New Citizens College, which was later renamed Harvard College in memory of the pastor John Harvard. is the oldest university in the United States, 140 years earlier than the history of the United States. It is truly "Harvard first, and then the United States."

1767 Levi's Harvard University/Photo source: Internet

As one of the top universities in the United States, Harvard University has trained a total of 8 U.S. presidents, including John Adams, the founding father, and Roosevelt, who was the only president to be elected four times. , as well as John F. Kennedy, Obama, , etc., and there are countless alumni in the political and business circles.

John Adams / Image source: Internet

Curious about the educational background of American political figures, the author searched for the educational background of current governors in the United States. Let us see together whether all American governors came from prestigious schools and studied science or literature. The survey targets the current governors of the 50 states and 1 special district in the United States.

1. Educational background

Among the current 50 governors and 1 special district mayor in the United States, 48 ​​have a bachelor's degree, accounting for 96%. Among them, 3 governors have not obtained a degree. In terms of arts and sciences, 68% of people have obtained a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), and 22% have obtained a Bachelor of Science (B.S.). The number of people who have obtained a Bachelor of Arts is three times that of science. In addition, the number of people who have obtained a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences respectively For a person, this kind of degree requires learning multiple disciplines and mastering the knowledge system of different disciplines. After completing their undergraduate education, 32% of the current governors chose to continue their studies and obtain a master's degree. Most of them chose to obtain a master's degree in management, with the largest number being 9 in business administration (M.B.A.) and public policy (M.P.P.). ) and Public Administration (M.P.A.), 1 respectively, followed by 3 Master of Arts, and fewer people choose to study Master of Science and Master of Research.

In addition, there are two governors who have a doctorate in philosophy (Ph.D.) and are well-deserved academic leaders. 38% of governors have a Juris Doctorate (J.D.), and 2 governors are slightly more special, holding a Medical Doctorate (M.D.). Generally speaking, American governors have more academic backgrounds. After graduating from undergraduate degrees, more of them usually study for management degrees and law doctors and degrees.

Data source: wikipedia

Notably, a significant proportion of governors hold a Juris Doctorate (J.D.). This is because a J.D. is a prerequisite for qualifying to practice law (with some exceptions in some states). In American political culture, there are many politicians who are lawyers. 25 of the 45 presidents of the United States were lawyers.

American legal film and television drama / Picture source: Internet

2. Graduation School

After learning about the academic qualifications of the current governors in the United States, are you curious whether the governors "taught students from famous schools (schools)"?

The following are statistics on the educational background of 51 governors/mayors of special districts:

In order to allow readers to more intuitively understand the different educational levels and levels of the governors' "alma maters", the author selected the well-known top private universities in the United States "Ivy League" " (Ivy League) , "New Elite 'Ivies') , which comes from the book How to Get into College Guide published by Kaplan-Newsweek, a well-known educational research organization in 2007. The alliance A total of 25 top public or private universities, as well as Research University Category I (Doctorate-granting Universities—High Research Activity) in the Carnegie Classification of Higher Education Institutions were compared.

Ivy League/Image source: Internet

Among the 51 governors and mayors of the District, 7 have undergraduate degrees in the Ivy League, including Harvard University, 3 people, Dartmouth College, 43 people , and 1 people are studying at Yale University , and 4 people are studying at the "New Ivy League". There are 17 institutions in Category I research universities, and the proportion of is 33.3%. In addition, there are also prestigious schools such as Wesleyan University, a well-known liberal arts college, and the United States Military Academy (West Point).

West Point Military Academy Graduation Ceremony/Picture Source: Internet

At the master's level, 3 people studied in the Ivy League, 8 people studied in Category I research universities, accounted for 50% , and 3 governors owned the British Master's degrees from the top prestigious universities University of Oxford , University of Cambridge and University of London . Two governors with Ph.D.s - Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf received his PhD from MIT , and Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo received her doctoral degree from Oxford University , who also received Yale University His Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree is truly admirable.

Gina Raimondo / Image source: wikipedia

Not all governors in the United States have higher education qualifications. For example, the newly appointed governor of Missouri, Mike Parson, while serving in the army, took night courses at the University of Maryland and the University of Hawaii, although he did not obtain a degree. A bachelor's degree, but closer to an associate's degree (the lowest in the degree system). It can be seen that academic qualifications are not the threshold and standard for being elected governor of the United States.

Generally speaking, most governors in the United States are not from prestigious schools. The number of governors who have obtained a bachelor of arts degree at the undergraduate level is much higher than that of a bachelor of science degree. More than one-third of the governors have a doctorate in law. There is also a situation among American governors that "heroes do not ask where they come from." In a country with many world-class universities and top universities, this is also somewhat thought-provoking.

Reference source:

[1] The education of state executive officials.

https://ballotpedia.org/The_education_of_state_executive_officials

[2] List of current United Statesgovernors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_United_States_governors

[3] Missouri's possible next governor Mike Parson described as 'a straight shooter'.

https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/state_news/missouri-s-possible-next-governor-mike-parson-described-as-a/article_a827151a-18c2 -11e8-a3c1-2ffe0d0f993b.html