What to include
At minimum, every education entry needs the degree, the institution, the location, and the graduation date. Everything else is optional and depends on your career stage.
Required fields
- Degree name as it appears on your diploma or transcript. Write Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, not BS CS.
- Institution name and location.
- Graduation month and year. Use the same date format as the rest of the resume.
Optional fields
- GPA, only if above 3.5 or if the employer explicitly requests it.
- Honors and awards earned during the degree.
- Relevant coursework, only if directly related to the target role and you have less than three years of experience.
- Thesis or capstone title, if relevant to the role.
- Study abroad, if it strengthens your case for the target role.
Where to place the education section
The position of the education section depends on how much work experience you have and how relevant it is to your target job.
- If you have less than three years of experience: education goes above experience.
- If you have three to ten years of experience: education goes below experience.
- If you have more than ten years of experience: education goes at the bottom of the resume, sometimes with only the degree and institution.
- If your degree is required for the role (nursing, law, medicine, accounting): education stays near the top regardless of experience.
Should you include GPA?
Include GPA if it is above 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, if you graduated within the last three years, or if the employer explicitly asks. Do not include GPA if it is below 3.0. Do not include a GPA that is not on the standard 4.0 scale without explaining the scale.
Once you have two or more years of professional experience, GPA becomes optional and can usually be removed to save space.
Relevant coursework
Relevant coursework is worth including if you are a student or a recent graduate applying to a role that maps directly to specific courses. List three to five courses, named exactly as they appear in the course catalog.
Do not list every course you have taken. Do not list introductory courses. Do not list courses that are only tangentially related.
Handling in-progress degrees
If you are currently enrolled in a degree program, list it with an expected graduation date. Example: Master of Science in Data Science, Expected May 2026.
You can include GPA and coursework even if the degree is in progress, as long as you label them as such. Some candidates prefer to list in-progress degrees as In progress or Currently enrolled rather than using an expected date, but an expected date is clearer.
Handling incomplete degrees
If you started a degree and did not finish, you have two options. You can omit it entirely, or you can list it with a specific completion status such as Completed 60 credits toward B.S. in Mathematics. Omitting is usually cleaner if the incomplete degree is old or unrelated to the target role.
Never claim a degree you did not complete. Background checks will flag it, and the misrepresentation can cost you the offer even after you accept it.
Listing multiple degrees
List multiple degrees in reverse chronological order, with the most recent first. For each degree, include the same fields as a single degree. If you have many degrees and the earlier ones are less relevant, you can shorten or omit them once you have more professional experience.
For academic roles, list every degree. For industry roles, list the two or three most relevant.
Certifications versus education
Certifications are not the same as degrees and should have their own section. Certifications are time-limited credentials, professional designations, or technical certifications that demonstrate specific skills. Degrees are academic qualifications from accredited institutions.
Some credentials blur the line, such as coding bootcamp certificates or professional designations. If the credential is issued by an accredited institution, list it under education. If it is issued by an industry body or a training company, list it under certifications.
Formatting the education entry
- Degree name in bold or as the entry title.
- Institution and location on the second line.
- Dates on the right or on a separate line, depending on template.
- Optional details (GPA, honors, coursework) on following lines in smaller or muted text.
Keep the same format for every degree entry on the resume. Consistency matters more than any particular choice.
Frequently asked questions
Should I include high school on my resume?
Only if you are a first-year student, still in high school, or have no other education to list. Once you have a college GPA, high school becomes noise.
Should I list my GPA if it is 3.2?
Generally no. Include GPA only if it is above 3.5 or if the employer explicitly requests it. A 3.2 is a fine GPA, but on a resume, it is not a differentiator.
Should I include study abroad?
Include it if it strengthens your candidacy: language skills, international exposure relevant to the role, or a specific research project abroad. Leave it off if it was mostly tourism.
How do I list a degree that is in progress?
Include an expected graduation date. Example: Master of Science in Data Science, Expected May 2026. You can also list the credits completed if relevant.
Should I list a bootcamp or online certificate?
Yes, under a Certifications section, not under Education. Bootcamps and online certificates are valuable signals but they are not degrees.