Where did Zohran Mamdani go to college and what did he study?

1. Where he went to college — the clear consensus

Reporting from The New York Times states directly that Mamdani graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in Africana studies, and that Bowdoin shaped his intellectual and political development ^[1]. Bowdoin-focused coverage in campus outlets and national press repeats this fact, presenting his Bowdoin degree as the central, widely cited credential in his biography ^{[2] [3]}.

2. What he studied — Africana studies is the landing point

The most specific academic claim in the sources is that Mamdani earned a BA in Africana studies at Bowdoin College ^{[1] [3]}. Profiles and feature articles connect that major to the seminars and readings he encountered there — courses on Reconstruction, Civil War letters, and Black intellectual traditions — and note professors and classmates describing how those seminars influenced his thinking ^{[1] [2]}.

3. How journalists link his major to his politics

The New York Times and the Bowdoin student paper both present a throughline from Mamdani’s Africana studies coursework and campus activism (including founding Students for Justice in Palestine at Bowdoin, according to campus memory) to his later identity as a progressive organizer and legislator ^{[1] [2]}. Commentators use his major to explain his fluency with racial justice frameworks and radical critiques of institutions ^{[1] [2]}.

4. Other education items mentioned in reporting — what’s in the record and what isn’t

Local and international outlets add earlier schooling details — e.g., Mamdani attended New York City public schools and has ties to Bank Street’s School for Children as an alum — but the strongest, repeatedly cited postsecondary credential across national reporting is Bowdoin College, BA, Africana studies ^{[4] [5]}. Available sources do not mention a graduate degree or professional school credential for Mamdani beyond Bowdoin (not found in current reporting).

5. Disagreements, framing, and implicit agendas in coverage

Most mainstream profiles present his Bowdoin major as factual background ^{[1] [2]}. Opinion outlets use the same educational facts to push differing narratives: some frame his elite-college background as formative in a positive sense (critical thinking, organizing), while critics portray it as evidence of an out-of-touch, university-educated left ^{[6] [7]}. These divergent framings rely on the same basic facts about Bowdoin and Africana studies but emphasize different implications, revealing editorial agendas on both the left and right ^{[1] [7]}.

6. What the sources don’t say — limits to the public record here

None of the provided sources offer course transcripts, a detailed list of classes, honors distinctions, or a statement from Bowdoin confirming his major beyond journalistic reporting (available sources do not mention transcripts or Bowdoin’s official registrar confirmation). Likewise, the supplied reporting does not indicate graduate or professional degrees after Bowdoin (not found in current reporting).

7. Why this matters for voters and observers

Journalists and analysts use Mamdani’s Bowdoin degree in Africana studies to explain both his policy language and his organizing style; supporters cast it as intellectual training in social justice, while critics use it to question his connection to non-college constituencies ^{[1] [7]}. Knowing the specific credential — BA in Africana studies from Bowdoin, class of 2014 — helps ground those debates in verifiable facts and separate them from partisan spin ^{[1] [2]}.

If you want, I can pull direct quotations from his Bowdoin professors or the campus paper to illustrate how specific courses shaped his views, or assemble the differing opinion pieces that use his education to argue for or against his candidacy.