How To List Education On Your Resume (With Examples)

Updated 13 August 2022

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The education section is an essential part of your resume. It provides interviewers with information on your educational background and helps them decide if you are suitable for a role. Learning how to highlight your academic qualifications on your resume helps you differentiate from other candidates and often makes it easy to secure an interview. In this article, we discuss how to list education on a resume along with templates and examples.

How To List Education On A Resume

Here is a guideline of how to list education on a resume:

1. List your professional degrees

The degree is a vital piece of information as it helps recruiters assess if you have the essential qualifications for the role. Start by listing your latest degree. You can either mention the complete name or shorten it.

2. Include your field of study

When mentioning the degree, it is beneficial to specify your major. This is because a single degree is applicable for various fields of study. For example, a BSc degree can indicate any science subject. So, it is essential that you mention the major along with the degree so that the recruiter knows your area of study. If you have also graduated with minors, you can mention them.

3. Mention your alma mater and year of graduation

Besides the degree, you can also include the university, college or educational institution. This often helps enhance your profile, especially if you attended a prestigious institution in your area of study. You can also include the year of graduation to inform the recruiters when you completed your formal studies.

4. Specify your grades

You can expect an employer to review grades and use them in making hiring decisions. If you have recently earned your degree and have limited work experience, adding your grades or the final percentage of marks may highlight your talent. Additionally, if you have received any distinctions like a gold medal or university rank, you can include them along with your marks.

5. Consider including extracurriculars

If you were part of a club or society relevant to the job you are applying for, you can include the extracurricular activity along with your education. For example, if you are applying for the role of a football coach, then you can mention that you were the goalkeeper for your college football team during your university years. Adding relevant extracurriculars often shows interviewers that you have the necessary skills for the job.

What Do Employers Look For In The Education Section?

It often depends on the requirements of the job. For example, certain professions, like health care and teaching, require the candidate to have specific certifications and degrees. In such cases, the recruiter checks the education section of the resume to determine if you qualify for the role. Note that some recruiters require you to provide physical or scanned copies of your graduation certificate or degree as proof before hiring. Hence, ensure that any information you include in the education section of your resume is accurate, and you can prove it if required.

Before applying for a job, it is essential to go through the job description and qualifications. This may help you understand whether the recruiter is looking for specific qualifications. You can then revise your resume to position these qualifications at the top of the page, just below your contact information and professional summary. This usually improves your chances of securing an interview.

Where To Place The Education Section On A Resume

Before placing your educational qualifications on your resume, you can consider the following factors:

The highest level of education completed
Work experience
Relevance of your academic qualification to the position you are applying for

If you are a fresh graduate with limited work experience, you can place the education section at the top of the resume, below your contact details and summary. This is because highlighting your academic credentials helps recruiters evaluate if you have the essential skills for the role. If you have graduated a long time back and have sufficient work experience, you can place the education section at the bottom of the resume, after your work experience section.

Listing Education On Different Resume Formats

Depending on a candidate's experience and the role they are applying for, resume formats may differ. Here are tips to help you include your educational qualification in different resume formats:

Reverse chronological: This resume format typically places emphasis on the latest work experience, with work experience listed from most recent to oldest. You can place the education section after the work experience section.
Functional: A functional resume often places emphasis on a candidate's skill sets. This resume format places emphasis on the latest work experience, with work experience listed from most recent to oldest.

Examples For Listing Education On A Resume

In this section, you can find the different ways to include educational qualifications on your resume:

High school education

If you are a high school student, your education section is usually a significant part of your resume. So, you can position it at the top of the resume. If you have volunteer work, extracurriculars or internships relevant to the job you are applying for, you can include it before the education section. Here is an example:

Class XII with 98.5%
ABC High School, Mumbai
2019 - 2021
Courses: Accountancy, business mathematics, economics, computer science

If you are still in school, you can skip the finishing year and list your education as:
Class XII
ABC High School, Mumbai
2020 - Present
Courses: Accountancy, business mathematics, economics, computer science

Undergraduate degree

Here are a few examples for listing your bachelor's degree on your resume:

BE in mechanical engineering
ABC University, New Delhi
Graduated in 2018 with 85.3%

Bachelor of Arts in English, minor in teaching
ABC University, Pune
Graduated in 2018 with 88.8%

If you have a double major, then the major that is relevant to the position you are applying for can be placed first:

BE in mechanical engineering and civil engineering
ABC University, New Delhi
Class of 2015 with 78%

If you are still attending college, you can skip the graduation year and grades:

BE in mechanical engineering and civil engineering
ABC University, New Delhi
2019 - Present

Postgraduate and doctorate degree

Postgraduate degrees and doctorates require more detailed explanations, since you are likely to have acquired skills relevant to the job role. You can mention scholarships, fellowships and other projects and dissertation work you completed during the course. Here are a few examples to help you:

MTech in artificial intelligence and machine learning
XYZ University, New Delhi
Graduated in 2011 with 88.3%

MBA in business administration
XYZ Business School, Mumbai
Recipient of ABC Scholarship
Graduated in 2016 with 88.5%

PhD in computer science
XYZ University, Mumbai
2016 Doctoral Dissertation Award
Dissertation: Secure Virtual Architecture

Incomplete education

If you stopped your education for some reason, you can still include it on your resume. In place of the graduation year, you can mention relevant coursework and other credits. Here is an example to help you:

ABC University, Chennai
Completed 20 credits towards BBA in Mass Communication

Tips To List Education On Your Resume

Here are a few tips you can use to list education on your resume:

Start with your most recent degree and then list the others in reverse chronological order. If you want to highlight a qualification relevant to the job you are applying for, you can place it at the top of the education section.
Use abbreviations for the most common degrees like BE, BSc, MSc and MBA. If the degree is not popular, you can include it in full so that it is easy for the recruiter to identify it.
You can skip listing your high school marks if you have other higher educational qualifications. If you want to highlight a specific academic achievement during your high school years, you can include it in the education section.
You may list your professional certifications along with the date of completion after the education section.
You can also list the courses you are currently taking, with an expected completion date.
It is essential to include keywords relevant to the position. For example, if you are applying for the role of an English teacher, you can mention that you have completed a Diploma in English language teaching.
If you have graduated from a famous college, you can highlight the college's name before the degree to attract the recruiter's attention.
Mention accurate information on your resume, as interviewers can request proof of your educational qualifications like the school leaving certificate and graduation certificate to verify the details.