The College Dropouts
Hall of Fame

You don't have to go to college to be a success. Even if you go for awhile, you don't have to graduate to be a success. Here are just a few of the people who have become famous and/or successful without graduating from college and/or high school.

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Henry J. Kaiser, multimillionaire founder of Kaiser Aluminum. High school dropout.

Rob Kalin, founder of Esty (a website that helps artisans sell handmade crafts and clothing). Flunked out of high school, briefly enrolled in an art school, and then faked an MIT student ID so he could take classes on the sly. His professors were so impressed that they helped him get into NYU where he learned out to build a website. Founded Esty with two classmates.

Jeffrey Kalmikoff, cofounder and chief creative officer of Treadless.com. Never graduated from college.

Dean Kamen, multimillionaire inventor of the Segway. Dropped out of Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Ingvar Kamprad, billionaire founder of IKEA, one of the richest people in the world. A dyslexic, he never attended college. When he was 17, his father gave him a reward for succeeding in his studies. He used this money to establish what became IKEA. As a child, he peddled matches, Christmas decorations, fish, and other sundries via his bicycle.

Garson Kanin, screenwriter, playwright, novelist, memoirist, director. A high school dropout.

David Karp, founder of Tumblr. Dropped out of Bronx Science at the age of 15 to be homeschooled and work for his Davidville company. Did not attend college. At the age of 17, he moved to Japan and worked remotely for an American Internet company.

Li Ka-Shing, billionaire, one of the wealthiest investors in Asia, plastics manufacturer, real estate investor. Had to leave school at the age of 15 to support his family after his father's death.

Byron Katie, spiritual leader and author. Dropped out of the University of Northern Arizona before the end of freshman year to get married.

Ben Kaufman, 21-year-old serial entrepreneur, founder of Kluster (a virtual forum that allows consumers and businesses to collaborate on the design of products and services). Dropped out of college in his freshman year.

Michael Keaton (Michael John Douglas) actor. Dropped out of Kent State University after two years.

Toby Keith, country music singer. After high school, he joined his father to work in the oil fields. His biggest regret, though, is never having attended college.

John F. Kennedy, U.S. president. He dropped out of Princeton University in 1935 but eventually graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 1940.

Kirk Kerkorian, billionaire investor and casino operator, owner of MGM movie studio, Mirage Resorts, and Mandalay Bay Resorts. An eighth-grade dropout who trained fighter pilots during World War II.

Alicia Keys, singer and songwriter. Graduated from New York's Professional Performing Arts School at age 16. She enrolled at Columbia University but dropped out after a semester to sign with Columbia Records.

Jared Kim, founder of WeGame. Dropped out of the University of California at Berkeley halfway through the spring semester of his freshman year to devote himself full-time to starting the online gaming site WeGame.

B.B. King, blues musician, songwriter, and legend. Never finished high school. “I have two laptops. I didn't finish high school, so one is my tutor: I buy software on things I don't know. I write music with the other.” (People magazine)

Eartha Kitt, Emmy-winning actress, dancer, singer, author, and sex kitten. She dropped out of the High School of Performing Arts to take various odd jobs. Eventually landed a job with the Katherine Dunham dance troupe.

Heidi Klum, German supermodel, actress, fashion designer, television producer, and host of Project Runway and Germany's Next Topmodel. One of Forbe's 2008 Celebrity 100, she makes $14 million per year. Became a model immediately after graduating from high school.

Keira Knightley, actress. Did not attend college, but wishes she did.

Allan Kornblum, author, poet, and publisher, Coffee House Press. Dropped out of New York University

Bruce Kovner, billionaire hedge fund operator, founder of Caxton Associates. Dropped out of a Ph.D. program at Harvard to drive a taxi in New York City.

Jan Kramer, ice skater, actress, country singer. "The day I graduated from high school, I left for New York City," where she began acting in All My Children. Soon after, she left for Los Angeles to pursue her acting career, get parts on 90210, Entourage, and Friday Night Lights before getting a role on One Tree Hill.

Ray Kroc, multimillionaire founder of McDonald's. High school dropout.

Chad Kroeger, frontman for Nickelback rock group. In a Playboy magazine interview, he noted that “I didn't go to school. I mean, after the eighth or ninth grade, I don't remember going to school five days out of the week, ever.” He was a few credits short of
graduating from high school when he left school and took to the road.

Stanley Kubrick, movie director and producer, screenwriter, photographer. His poor high school grades made it impossible to attend college. He did take some photography classes at CCNY but never graduated from any college.

Mila Kunis, actress. She briefly attended college, but had an epiphany: "I decided I wasn't going to take [my career] seriously and make my job who I am. I just want to be happy with my life."

Olga Kurylenko, model, actress, Bond girl. Began modeling at the age of 14 in Moscow, Russia. Soon moved to Paris, France for more modeling work. Then moved on into acting.

Dropouts with last names starting with L

Drop out of school before your mind rots from our mediocre educational system. — Frank Zappa, musician, liner notes from the Freak Out album