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On Campus Blog
Alex Friedrich

15 Successful College Dropouts

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Take this Huffington Post list of 15 successful college dropouts as a bit of Monday morning bubble gum,.

I'm indeed skeptical of the Who-Needs-College-To-Be-Successful school of thinking, as it misses a main point of higher education -- becoming an enlightened, more well-rounded person -- and focuses solely on college as a ticket to a good job.

That said, I'm always curious to see which college dropouts made it big -- and then decide for myself whether that person needs to go back. (Russell Brand and Rush Limbaugh, I'm looking at you.)

The list, of course, is far from complete. And a couple of notable exclusions are Bill Gates, who left Harvard to found Microsoft, and Mick Jagger, who dropped out of the London School of Economics to pursue his gig with the Rolling Stones.

Note that most of these folks dropped out to pursue work in music, acting, modeling or business. Others were expelled for bad behavior. Minnesotan Fitzgerald is the only one listed as in danger of failing out altogether.

  • Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (Paris, art and architecture)

  • David Byrne (Rhode Island School of Design)

  • Russell Brand (Italia Conti Stage School and the Camden Drama Centre)

  • F. Scott Fitzgerald (Princeton)

  • David Geffen (University of Texas)

  • John Glenn (Muskingum College -- but he later got a degree)

  • John Mackey (University of Texas)

  • Bill Murray (Regis College)

  • Anne Hathaway (Vassar, New York University)

  • Leo Tolstoy (Kazan University)

  • Ted Turner (Brown)

  • Joy Bryant (Yale)

  • Rush Limbaugh (Southeast Missouri State University)

  • Dustin Hoffman (Santa Monica City College)

  • Cindy Crawford (Northwestern University)

For photos and more detail, read the full piece here.