How to List Education on a Resume, With Examples

Every entry needs four things: the degree and major, the school, the school's city and state, and the month and year you graduated or expect to. Texas A&M's career center lists the same core details and says the section should begin with your most recent education.

Write the degree out in full, for example "Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering" rather than "BSME" or a course code. MIT's UPOP program tells students to spell out the degree, major and minor instead of using course codes; a recruiter outside your school will not know internal abbreviations.

Everything else earns its place only if it helps: GPA, Latin honors, Dean's List, relevant coursework, a thesis or capstone, study abroad and scholarships. The table below shows what to include and when.

Put education near the top, right after your summary, while you are in school or within a year or two of graduating. At that stage the degree is your strongest qualification. Texas A&M's career center gives the same rule: recent graduates near the top, people with more work experience toward the bottom.

Once you have a few years of relevant work, move education below experience and trim it to one or two lines per degree. A hiring manager filling a senior accountant role cares more about the month-end closes you ran than the classes you took.

Keep education high even with experience when the degree is the qualification itself: a new MBA, a nurse who just finished a BSN, a teacher whose new master's moves them up the salary schedule, or a career changer whose new degree is the reason they fit the job.

List it exactly like a finished degree, but replace the graduation date with your expected date: "Expected May 2027" or "Anticipated Graduation: May 2027." Whitman College's sample education sections put "Expected Graduation: May 2022" on the school line, and MIT's UPOP guide uses "Anticipated Graduation." The word that matters is "Expected," because it tells the reader you have not finished yet.

Use the date from your degree audit, not a hopeful one, and update it if it moves. Internship recruiters use it to check you will still be enrolled during the internship, and full-time recruiters use it to plan your start date.

If you stopped a degree and are not going back, do not show an expected date. List the school, the field and what you completed, for example "Coursework toward B.S. in Accounting, 2021 to 2023 (64 credits)." That is accurate and still credits the work you did.

Include it while you are a student or recent graduate and it helps you. Career centers draw the line in different places: UNT Health's nursing resume guide recommends listing GPA if it is 3.0 or higher, MIT's UPOP guide says to include it only if it is strong, and Texas A&M lists it for recent graduates but says experienced former students need not include it.

Always show the scale, as in "GPA 3.62/4.0," and report it as your transcript shows it. Rounding 3.46 up to 3.5 is the kind of small stretch a transcript request exposes.

If your major GPA is higher than your overall GPA, you can list it with a clear label: "Major GPA 3.7/4.0." If an application form asks for GPA, give it there even if it is not on the resume; some employers, often in consulting, finance and engineering, ask for it on the form. Drop GPA from the resume after your first full-time job or two, once you have work results to show.

Add a "Relevant Coursework" line inside the education entry when your classes show skills your experience does not prove yet. MIT's UPOP guide suggests it for exactly that reason. Pick the courses that match the job posting, upper-level courses first.

Keep it short. Texas A&M suggests no more than four to six classes and notes that hiring managers look for subject matter, not course numbers. Write "Database Systems," not "CS 3320."

Coursework is a student and new-graduate tool. Remove it once you hold a job in the field that shows the same skills.

Yes, if high school is your highest level of education or you are still in high school. List the school, city and state, and the graduation year or expected year: "High School Diploma, Lincoln High School, Tulsa, OK, 2024." A GED or other state high school equivalency credential goes in the same place, listed the same way with the year you earned it.

Once you are in college, high school usually comes off. Georgia Tech's first-year guide says to remove high school activities after your first year of college. MIT's UPOP guide keeps high school only as a space-filler or when the internship is in the same area as your high school, where a local employer may recognize it.

One exception: if a posting says "high school diploma or GED required" and you have no college degree, make sure the diploma is on the page so a screener sees it. If you have any college degree, the diploma is assumed.

List degrees newest first. A double major is one degree with both majors on one line. Two different degrees from the same school can share the school name, with each degree on its own line. A minor goes on the degree line after the major.

Latin honors go on the degree line or right below it, and Dean's List goes under the degree it belongs to. Texas A&M recommends listing honors, Dean's List, class rank and merit scholarships while you are a recent graduate and keeping only the most significant ones later. The cum laude guide linked below covers honors formatting in detail.

Professional licenses and certifications usually get their own section. A bootcamp or non-degree certificate program can sit in education if it is your main training, listed with the provider, program name and completion date. Study abroad goes under the degree it was part of; Texas A&M advises focusing on what you learned that applies to the job.

1. 1

   Collect the exact details

   Copy the official degree name, major, minor and graduation or expected date from your transcript or degree audit.

2. 2

   Decide where the section goes

   Above experience if you are a student or recent graduate, below it once your work history is the stronger evidence.

3. 3

   Write the core line

   Degree and major, school, city and state, and the month and year. Add "Expected" if you have not graduated.

4. 4

   Add only the extras that help

   GPA with the scale, Latin honors, Dean's List, 4 to 6 relevant courses or a capstone that matches the posting.

5. 5

   Cut what no longer earns space

   Remove high school once you are in college, and coursework and GPA once you have a job or two in the field.

Samples for fictional people and schools. Copy the layout, not the details.

• Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude and Summa Cum Laude on a Resume
• How to List Certifications and Licenses on a Resume
• College Student Resume Example and Writing Guide
• High School Student Resume Example and Writing Guide
• How to Write a Resume With No Work Experience
• How to write a resume

We opened every page below on that date. Pay, rules and requirements change, so check the source before you rely on a detail.

1. Texas A&M University Career Center: Building Your Resume: Organizing Your Information (placement by experience, reverse order, GPA for recent graduates, 4 to 6 courses, honors)
2. MIT Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program (UPOP): UPOP Resume Guidelines (spell out degree, anticipated graduation, GPA only if strong with scale, coursework, high school)
3. Whitman College Career and Community Engagement Center: Education section examples (expected graduation format, relevant coursework and thesis lines)
4. Georgia Institute of Technology, GT 1000: Sample Student Resumes (remove high school activities after the first year of college)
5. UNT Health Fort Worth Career Readiness Center: Nursing Resume Guide (GPA recommended if 3.0 or higher, expected graduation example)