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The winners of the 2025 Oscars have been revealed and as the red (champagne) carpet is being stored away for another year,ÌýTimes Higher EducationÌýlooked at the winners of the Best Actor and Best Actress Awards over the past 30 years to see where they went to university (perhaps to refine their Oscar winning talents?)

Looking back at theÌýhigher education paths of these Oscar winners reveals that 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of California system,ÌýYale 51¹ú²úÊÓƵÌýand theÌý51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of CambridgeÌýproduced the highest number of Oscar winners.

In 2025 Adrien Brody (The Brutalist) became the first actor to win the award with his first two nominations. He attended Stony Brook 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ and Queen's College, both in New York. Many other winners have attended universities in New York including Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote in 2006).Ìý

In 2023, Michelle Yeoh (Everything, Everywhere All At Once) became the first 51¹ú²úÊÓƵn actress and the second woman of colour to win the Best Actress award. She didn't go to university, but began her career as a dancer which helped her to perform her own stunts in her first few roles.Ìý

The relatively high number of 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of California alumni winning Oscars, which includeÌýNicholas CageÌý(forÌýLeaving Las VegasÌýinÌý1996) and Helen Hunt (forÌýAs Good As It GetsÌýin 1998)ÌýcouldÌýsuggest that studying in close proximity to Hollywood increases your chances of an Oscar win. Many Oscar winners also studied at community colleges across California, with one of the Best Actor winners (Sean Penn for Mystic River in 2004)) and one Best Actress (Hilary Swank for Million Dollar Baby in 2005)Ìýattending Santa Monica Community College.

°Õ³ó±ðÌý51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of CambridgeÌýis the alma mater ofÌýEddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything, 2015), Emma Thompson (Howard’s End, 1993) and Olivia Colman (The Favourite, 2019). Interestingly, none of them chose to study drama opting instead for history of art, English literature and primary teaching respectively. Colman left Cambridge after one term and went on to study at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.Ìý

Yale 51¹ú²úÊÓƵÌýproduced two winners with both Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady, 2012) and Frances McDormand (Fargo, 1997,ÌýThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, 2018,ÌýNomadland,Ìý2021) receiving a master of fine arts from the university.Ìý

However, as would be expected the majority of these winners chose to study drama or theatre degrees. Of those who didn’t, English literature was a popular choice as were art, photography or music. Natalie Portman (Black Swan, 2011) was one of the few to buck the arts trend and chose a psychology degree.Ìý

While many Oscar winners felt that university was the right course to theatrical success, seven actors and five actresses across the last 30 years chose to forgo university or theatre school altogether. Instead, many stepped into the spotlight early on or took up less glamorous jobs until they got their big break.

Best Actress winners were more likely to go to university than their male counterparts, but a greater number of them dropped out midway through their courses. These included Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine, 2014), Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich, 2001) and Helen Hunt (As Good as it Gets, 1998), who dropped out of theÌý51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Melbourne,ÌýGeorgia State 51¹ú²úÊÓƵÌýand theÌý51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of California, Los AngelesÌý°ù±ð²õ±è±ð³¦³Ù¾±±¹±ð±ô²â.Ìý

The Best Actress winners were also more likely to have attended a university featured in theÌýTimes Higher Education’sÌýWorld 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ Ranking’sÌýtop 20, withÌýHarvard 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ,ÌýYale 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ,ÌýStanford 51¹ú²úÊÓƵÌýand theÌý51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of CambridgeÌýall producing winners in this category. In comparison, only Eddie Redmayne and Casey Affleck attended universities ranked in theÌý°Õ±á·¡Ìýtop 20 (51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of CambridgeÌý²¹²Ô»åÌýColumbia 51¹ú²úÊÓƵÌý°ù±ð²õ±è±ð³¦³Ù¾±±¹±ð±ô²â).

It seems that the route to stardom is multi-forked, and that little gold statue can be attained in many ways. Ivy League institutions, community colleges and drama schools (and choosing not to attend university at all) have all produced talented actors and actresses. It will be interesting to see which route the 2026 winners will have taken to win the top awards at next years' 98thÌýAcademy Awards.Ìý

The winners and their colleges

Best Actors

Best ActressesÌýÌý

Methodology: Actors did not have to graduate for their college to be included. For the purposes of the analysis, the 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of California system has been treated as a single institution. Individual university information is available in the two tables above