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.

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - XYZ

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Andy Wachowski, screenwriter, director, The Matrix. Dropped out of Emerson College.

Larry Wachowski, screenwriter, director, The Matrix. Dropped out of Bard College.

Donnie Wahlberg Jr., singer (New Kids on the Block), actor, music producer. Never attended college. Started his singing career at the age of 15.

Mark Wahlberg, rapper (as Marky Mark), model, actor, producer. Dropped out of school for good at the age of 16.

Theodore Waitt, billionaire founder of Gateway Computers. Dropped out of the University of Iowa one semester short of a degree to start Gateway with his older brother in 1985.

Alfred Russel Wallace, naturalist, co-discover of evolutionary theory. Left school at the age of 14 to go to work to support his family. Wallace was self-taught, via frequent visits to libraries and workingman's institutes, while working as a land surveyor, a builder, and a school teacher.

DeWitt Wallace, founder and publisher of Reader's Digest, philanthropist. Dropped out of Macalester College after one year. Dropped out of the University of California at Berkeley after the second year.

Y.C. Wang, billionaire founder of Formosa Plastics. Never attended high school.

Ty Warner, billionaire developer of Beanie Babies, hotel owner, real estate investor. Dropped out of college to go on the road selling plush toys.

George Washington, U.S. president, general, plantation owner. Ended his education after a few years of elementary school.

Keith Waterhouse, journalist, novelist, Billy Liar. Was inspired to drop out of school and become a writer after reading Mark Twain and P.G. Wodehouse.

John Wayne, actor, attended the University of Southern California for two years on a football scholarship. He dropped out to work as a propman and stuntman for movie studios.

Charlie Weaver, see Cliff Arquette.

Sidney Weinberg, managing partner of Goldman Sachs, aka Mr. Wall Street. Dropped out of the seventh grade in Brooklyn.

Jerry Weintraub, movie producer. Never attended college.

H.G. Wells, science fiction author. Dropped out of high school to help support his family. Eventually completed high school and went on to college.

Kanye West, rapper. Had a hit album called The College Dropout.

Leslie Wexner, billionaire founder of Limited Brands. Dropped out of Ohio State law school. Started the Limited with a $5,000 loan from an aunt.

Dean White, billionaire hotelier and billboard magnate. Dropped out of the University of Nebraska to join the Merchant Marine Academy. Served during World War II. Then took over family business after the war and built it into a billboard and real estate empire.

Shawn White, multi-millionaire Olympic snowboarder and X-Games skateboarder. Did not attend college. Turned pro in skateboarding at the age of 16.

Walt Whitman, poet, self-publisher. Elementary school dropout.

Bruce Willis, actor. Dropped out of the theater program of Montclair State University after his junior year. He asserts that a college diploma "is just a trophy. I have some bowling trophies I think would be worth about the same thing."

Gretchen Wilson, country singer. Quit school after the eighth grade. Finally earned her GED equivalency degree in 2009. "I've wanted to go back and get my GED for years, ever since I quit school after the eighth grade. I had a troubled childhood and I just wanted to get out of the house and on with life as quickly as possible. And back then I thought it wasn't important to have a high school diploma to chase my music dreams. But I always knew that finishing high school would make me feel a little more complete." (Redbook magazine)

Kemmons Wilson, multimillionaire founder of Holiday Inns. Dropped out of high school.

Owen Wilson, actor, screenwriter. Dropped out of the University of Texas.

Woodrow Wilson, U.S. president, college president. Dropped out of Davidson College, but eventually graduated from Princeton University.

Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief, Vogue magazine. Did not attend college.

Tyrone Wood, director of Scream Gallery, son of Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood. Education: "The school of life."

Tiger Woods, golfer. Turned pro at the age of 20 after attending Stanford University for a year or two.

Steve Wozniak, billionaire co-founder of Apple. Dropped out of college.

Frank Lloyd Wright, architect, interior designer, leader of the Prairie School of architecture. Voted as the greatest American architect of all time by the American Institute of Architects. Attended a high school in Madison, Wisconsin, but apparently never graduated. He was admitted to the University of Wisconsin as a special student and took classes part-time for two semesters. He left school without getting a degree. He left to work at an architectural firm in Chicago, Illinois.

Orville Wright, inventor of the airplane. Dropped out of high school in his junior year to open a printing business.

Wilbur Wright, inventor of the airplane. Completed four years of high school but never received his diploma. Did not attend college.

Ed Wynn, comedian and actor. Left home at the age of 16 to join a theater company.

Dropouts with last names starting with XYZ

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