Where Did President Ronald Reagan Go to College?

People live in an era when many of their political leaders go to the “big name” colleges and universities, such as Harvard, Yale, and Columbia. In America’s early years, there were only a few colleges to choose from, including those that are now the Ivy League schools. However, since America’s founding and with her commitment to education, colleges and universities grew all across the fruited plain. Ronald Reagan graduated from Eureka College.

Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 6, 1911, in Tampico, Illinois, to a working-class family. Reagan attended school and helped support the household with various odd jobs. For example, as a teen, he worked as a lifeguard and is credited with saving 77 struggling swimmers. During his growing-up years, the Reagan family moved to Dixon, Illinois, and Reagan graduated from Dixon High School. This native Illinoisan stayed within the state for his secondary education, selecting Eureka College, which was only 90 miles from home.

Eureka College History

Eureka College was founded in 1855 by abolitionist Christians. The founders left Kentucky because of their opposition to slavery and moved to Illinois because of its status as a free state. They were involved in a religious organization called the Christian Church, now known as the Disciples of Christ.

The denomination was launched in the early 1800s, and has always viewed diversity and unity in Christ among their primary objectives. Their goal was to provide a liberal arts education to young people to prepare them for leadership positions.

The school was unique for its day for its practical view of equality. It was the first college in Illinois and only the third college in the United States to accept men and women based on merit.

Though Eureka has been, and remains a small college, they have a strong emphasis on a complete education, including the arts. The college requires that students pursue a broad range of studies, including humanities, social sciences, fine arts, performing arts, and natural sciences. The goal is to ensure that students become familiar with the collective knowledge of the human civilization rather than limiting their education to only a few core subjects related exclusively to one’s major.  

Reagan's Time at Eureka

President Reagan attended a Disciples of Christ church in Dixon. His pastor, Reverend Ben Cleaver, encouraged him to attend Eureka, and one of his mentors in Dixon had graduated from Eureka. The final nudge toward Eureka was that Reagan’s girlfriend decided to go to Eureka.

He drove his girlfriend to the college for registration in September of 1928, and he went straight to the President’s office. In his talk with the president, Reagan asked for assistance in the form of the Needy Student Scholarship. The President was impressed with Reagan, so the college granted the scholarship to the young man from Dixon. They also provided an on-campus job in the dining hall for Reagan so he could afford to eat as well as attend classes.

At Eureka, Reagan had a dual major in economics and sociology. His economics education served him well after he became involved in politics, as did his study of behaviors through sociology.

Reagan made the most of his collegiate experience, as is evidenced by his interest in extracurricular activities. In his four years at Eureka, Reagan played football (lettered three years), swam on the swim team (was also coach in his last two years), ran track, participated in dramatics (appeared in 14 plays), served on Student Senate (two years), served as student body president, joined a fraternity, served as president of the Boosters Club, and led cheers for the basketball team.

We all know what became of Reagan after his graduation from Eureka in 1932.  He went on to become a well-known Hollywood actor, governor of California, and world leader by virtue of his election to President of the United States.

Undoubtedly, his education at Eureka College in the classroom, in student government, and in the sports arena served him well.