How to Write Education Section on a Resume (With Examples)

How to Write the Resume Education Section in 3 Steps

When you learn how to write your resume, you’ll quickly find that education is a standard component. Like your professional summary or resume statement, job history, and skills sections, how you present your education history is based on your background.

The education section is particularly important for entry-level job seekers who need to make a resume without work experience. Education is a way to showcase knowledge and skills before they’ve been tested in the workplace.

With that in mind, here are three things to do when you write this part of your resume.

1. Put your education section in the right spot

Placing your education section in the right spot on your resume is important.

The main factor is how long you’ve been in the job market.

If you’ve been working for several years, employers will be more interested in your work experience instead of your education. In which case, your education should go below your professional history.

Here’s an example of a chronological resume that minimizes the education section (a combination resume would work just as well):

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Now, if you’re a recent graduate or entering the workforce for the first time, your education section should take priority over work experience because you simply don’t have many professional achievements to highlight.

Here’s a functional resume in which professional experience takes a backseat to education:

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See our resume templates for more examples of education on a resume, and check out our guide on resume formats for more insight into how resumes can be structured.

2. Include the right details about your education

The education section should focus on high-level information about your educational history. You don’t want to overwhelm the reader with irrelevant details like specific classes or extracurricular activities unrelated to the job.

Here are the factors you must include in your resume education section:

• Name and location of the school.
• Years attended or year of graduation.
• The degree you obtained (if applicable).

Those are the basics, but there are many optional sections to consider, like the following:

• Field of study. 
• GPA (if it is above a 3.5 and you have limited work experience).
• Honors and achievements.
• Notable coursework.
• Relevant extracurricular activities.

Please note that the above options should only be considered if they are relevant to the job.

The final step to completing an excellent education section is formatting.

3. Format your education correctly

Making sure your education section is properly formatted is just as important as the contents. After all, a poorly-formatted section could be unreadable or — even worse — mislead the employer.

The key is to keep the section organized and concise and to use font stylings (bold and italics) to differentiate the information. (Our AI Resume Builder can help with this.)

Here’s one example of ideal formatting:

Notice how the school and location are highlighted in bold, while the degree and completion date are in italics.

Here’s a candidate with a similar educational background. See how they use bullet points to emphasize notable awards:

The second example flips the school and the degree, emphasizing the level of educational attainment rather than the institution. This example is also the lengthiest you’d want a resume’s education section to be. If you believe you need more space to fully account for your education, you may want to consider whether a CV would be a better choice.

Okay, let’s get more specific with education examples covering everything from listing a Ph.D. to highlighting incomplete coursework.