Education

Abstract

Interesting that Bill Gates should have such an interest in education — especially since much is made by the media of him being a college dropout. Apparently, though, this college drop-out thing is a bit of an urban myth. He didn’t actually drop out but rather took a leave of absence… from Harvard University… To found Microsoft. And things went so well that he didn’t return to complete the degree.² Very probably neither would you if you were declared a billionaire by the age of 32 and subsequently listed as number one on the Forbes list of The World’s Richest People from 1995 to 2009 (with a slight slip to number three in 2008). Actually, Bill Gates is very well educated, having attended the private, prestigious and successful* Lakeside School³ in Seattle, achieving 1590 out of 1600 in the standardized SAT college entrance test, and gaining entry to Harvard. His father was a lawyer and his mother on the board of directors of a bank. His grandfather was a national bank president. Clearly William Henry “Bill” Gates III is no average college drop-out, and nor are most of the other millionaires that the media likes to portray as educational failures.