Where Did Benjamin Franklin Go To School?

Surprisingly, although Benjamin Franklin was an accomplished inventor, scientist, writer, philosopher, statesmen, diplomat, and abolitionist, he did not actually graduate from the finest institutions of higher learning.  Benjamin Franklin’s greatest education came not from any type of formal school but instead from his own life and experience. 

Here’s what is known about Franklin’s formal education:

• Franklin’s father sent Benjamin to grammar school at age 8.  This was common practice at the time, especially for those who would eventually enter into ministry.  Franklin’s father aspired that Benjamin would one day be a preacher, and thus sent him along this traditional track of education.
• Due to financial constraints, Benjamin was sent to Mr. George Brownell’s school for writing and arithmetic less than a year after he began at the grammar school.  Franklin immediately excelled most of all in the field of writing.
• Franklin stayed at Mr. George Brownell’s school until he was 10, when he had to leave the school in order to take up a post at his father’s candle-making store.
• At age 12, Benjamin took an interest in the business of printing, especially given his voracious appetite for reading and writing.  As a result, Ben assumed an apprenticeship in the printing office of his brother James, where he learned much about the process of printing.

Further education came directly from Franklin’s personal studies and communications with others. There is no additional evidence of formal schooling.

Thus, where Benjamin Franklin went to school is not important - what is important is his contribution to history and the knowledge he brought to bare as a founding father of our country.