Feb 21, 2025
It may be surprising to learn that someone as successful as Bill Gates regrets not finishing his degree at Harvard. In fact, he delayed choosing Microsoft over college for as long as possible.
As he shared with CNBC Make It, he was having a great time as a Harvard undergraduate, making his decision to leave and start a software company at 20 a tough one.
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“I enjoyed the classes, including some that I just sat in on — psychology, economics, history courses,” Gates recalled. “I loved having smart people around.”
But in 1975, he and his childhood friend Paul Allen knew they had to act quickly on their dream of developing software for the personal computers they believed would one day be in nearly every American home.
He was spurred to drop out of Harvard and pursue his dream when he saw an issue of Popular Electronics featuring the first commercially successful personal computer in the U.S. — the Altair 8800.
“God, it’s happening without us,” he thought.
Is it worth dropping out?
Gates had a world-changing idea and the right timing. But even after co-founding Microsoft with Allen, he still hoped to return to Harvard to finish his degree.
Most U.S. college students don’t have a multi-trillion-dollar industry waiting for them on the other side of their dorm-room door, but a lot of them are dropping out.
In fact an estimated 1 in 3 U.S. college students drops out every year. While some leave to pursue big opportunities, others leave due to financial pressures, academic burnout or personal setbacks.
The decision comes down to opportunity cost. As much as he loved Harvard, Bill Gates didn’t want to miss out on the chance to build something that would change people’s lives: “A computer on every desk and in every home.”
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School, salaries and social capital
Unfortunately, there are opportunity costs to dropping out, too. One is earning power.
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The National Center for Education Statistics reports that the median income for bachelor's degree holders is $66,600, compared to just $41,800 for those with a high school diploma.
And beyond income, education builds a network.
Gary Barker, director of Equimundo, a progressive gender-equality advocacy organization, reinforced the importance of that network in an interview with the Wall Street Journal:
“The more that you’re sitting on the couch as opposed to out in the world, your social network gets narrower and then you don’t have the social capital or the skills to step into a job.”
Dropping out might be the right move for a select few, but for most, a degree still pays off in earnings, connections, and career flexibility.
As for Gates, things worked out well for him on the Harvard degree front, too, as he received an honorary degree from his alma mater in 2007.
"I've been waiting for more than 30 years to say this, Dad, I always told you I'd come back and get my degree," Gates quipped at the time.
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Victoria Vesovski is a Toronto-based Staff Reporter at Moneywise, where she covers the intersection of personal finance, lifestyle and trending news. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto, a postgraduate certificate in Publishing from Toronto Metropolitan University and a Master’s degree in American Journalism from New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. Her work has been featured in publications including Apple News, Yahoo Finance, MSN Money, Her Campus Media and The Click.
