When did jd vance graduate from ohio state university and yale law school?

Checked on December 16, 2025
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Executive summary

J.D. Vance earned his Bachelor of Arts from The Ohio State University in 2009 and his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 2013 [1] [2]. Multiple reputable outlets — including Britannica, Business Insider and Yale Daily News — record the same years for his Ohio State graduation and Yale Law graduation [3] [4] [5].

1. The simple answer: diplomas and dates

J.D. Vance completed his undergraduate degree — a B.A. in political science and philosophy, summa cum laude — at Ohio State University in 2009 [1]. He subsequently entered Yale Law School in 2010 and received his Juris Doctor in 2013 [1] [2].

2. Consistent reporting across profiles and news outlets

Major biographical summaries and profiles consistently list 2009 for Ohio State and 2013 for Yale Law: Britannica’s biographical entry, Business Insider’s profile and BestColleges’ background piece all cite those same years [3] [4] [2]. The Yale Daily News, reporting on his selection as a national running mate, likewise identifies him as a member of Yale Law School’s class of 2013 [5].

3. Timeline context: service, scholarship and law school entry

Vance served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2003 to 2007, then used benefits including the G.I. Bill to attend Ohio State, where he finished in 2009; he matriculated at Yale Law in 2010 and graduated in May 2013, the standard three-year arc for full‑time J.D. programs [1] [2]. Reporting notes that he worked on citation-checking tasks for The Yale Law Journal while a student [1].

4. Name change and bar exam timing that accompany the degrees

Reporting notes Vance legally adopted the surname “Vance” around the time he finished law school and that he passed the Kentucky bar exam in July 2013 — details that parallel his May 2013 Yale Law graduation in multiple reports [1] [6]. The Wikipedia entry states his legal name changed in April 2013 as he was about to graduate from Yale [1].

5. What the reporting emphasizes about his time at Yale

Profiles describe Vance’s relationship with Yale as ambivalent: the school was “the coolest thing” he had done “on paper,” yet reporting and his memoir portray him as an outsider who did not win top editorial ranks at the Yale Law Journal and whose grades he described as “fine but not fantastic” [7] [8]. The New York Times and TaxProf compile anecdotes about mentors (including faculty encouragement to write his memoir) and his role at the Law Journal [7] [9].

6. Where sources converge and where they add perspective

All supplied sources converge on the core factual timeline: Ohio State degree in 2009, Yale Law degree in 2013 [1] [2] [3]. Differences among sources are interpretive, not chronological: some emphasize his academic honors at Ohio State (summa cum laude) while others stress his middling law‑school performance or social fit at Yale [1] [8] [7].

7. Limits of the reporting and what’s not stated

Available sources specify degree years, name-change timing, and the July 2013 bar exam, but do not provide granular details such as exact graduation ceremony dates beyond “May 2013,” nor do they publish his full law‑school transcript or class rank in the cited pieces [1] [6]. If you need those fine-grained records, current reporting does not mention them.

8. Bottom line for readers and researchers

If you need to cite Vance’s formal academic timeline: Ohio State University — B.A., 2009; Yale Law School — J.D., 2013. These dates are corroborated by encyclopedia entries (Britannica), national reporting (New York Times, Business Insider), university outlets (Yale Daily News), and educational profiles (BestColleges) [3] [7] [4] [5] [2].

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What degrees did jd vance earn at ohio state and yale law school and in what years?
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