Educational Backgrounds of the Candidates

On yesterday's Ted Cruz post, reader Stevie K. brought up an excellent question:

"Thanks for the reminder on Cruz's impressive educational background. An overwhelming number of overall US presidents come from Ivy League schools, and we're amidst a trend of electing US presidents who have graduated from Yale/Columbia/Harvard. Is Cruz the only Republican candidate with an Ivy league pedigree?" -Stevie K., Belo Horizonte, Brazil

That is indeed a recent trend. Let's look at our recent presidents and their college background:
44. Barack Obama--Columbia and Harvard Law
43. George W. Bush--Yale and Harvard Business School
42. Bill Clinton--Georgetown, Oxford, Yale Law
41. George H.W. Bush--Yale

Reagan, our 40th president, breaks the streak with the heretofore unheard of "Eureka College," which he might have just made up for his résumé. Since him, though, we'll have had 28 straight years of Ivy League presidents heading into president #45.

If we buy that trend, we can help weed through the candidates when trying to predict our next chief executive. Below are the Republicans revealed in my countdown series so far, and then the remaining six in alphabetical order.

Tier 4--They Know They Can't Win
16. George Pataki--Yale, Columbia Law
(15.5. James Gilmore)--Virginia
15. Lindsey Graham--South Carolina
14. Carly Fiorina--Stanford, Maryland, MIT

Tier 3--We Know They Can't Win
13. Rick Santorum--Penn State and Pittsburgh's School of Business
12. Mike Huckabee--Ouachita Baptist Univeristy
11. Donald Trump Clown College University of Pennsylvania
10. Bobby Jindal--Brown, Oxford

Tier 3--So You're Saying There's a Chance!
9. Rick Perry--Texas A&M

8. Ben Carson--Yale and Michigan Medical
7. Ted Cruz--Princeton and Harvard Law

Remaining Six
Jeb Bush--Texas University at Austin
Chris Christie--Delaware, Seton Hall
John Kasich--The Ohio State University
Rand Paul--Baylor, Duke Medical
Marco Rubio--Florida University, Miami Law
Scott Walker--Marquette (did not graduate)

When we get to the Democrats next month, I'll include their education as one of the categories of each post.

Tomorrow, we get to #6 in the countdown!  I'll give you a hint: he's a Republican.

See you then.