Education is a common recurring theme in the Television show The Simpsons. Many of the episodes feature scenes at the fictional Springfield Elementary School and several plotlines have also revolved around education. Many different themes have been featured, including lack of funding of public schools ("The PTA Disbands") and evolution vs. creationism ("The Monkey Suit").

Other episodes have revolved around the fictional Springfield University, which is where Homer went when fired from the Nuclear Power Plant ("Homer Goes to College"). Lisa also secretly started attending it in the episode "Little Girl in the Big Ten".

In general, many of Springfield's citizens are uneducated, even though several have gone onto post-high school education.

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Daycares and Pre-Schools

Ayn Rand School for Tots

Run by "Ms. Sinclair", the sister of a musical director, this daycare is featured in the episode "A Streetcar Named Marge". She runs her school under the strict teachings of Ayn Rand and does not believe in baby bottles, trying to develop "the bottle within". She also does not allow pacifiers, which leads Maggie and her fellow babies to rebel. She also believes that when a baby wants its bottle it doesn't say, as Marge believes, "Ba-Ba" but "I am a leech!"

Springfield Pre-School

This is Springfield's other preschool which is attended by its other toddlers. This is possibly the preschool which Bart and Lisa attended.

Elementary Schools

Springfield Elementary School

Main article: Springfield Elementary School

In "Lisa Gets an "A"" SES was revealed to once be the most dilapidated school in Missouri and was moved to Springfield brick by brick. Springfield has long been an underfunded school with a computer-less computer lab, a less than enthusiastic staff and a group of very uneducated students. On many occasions it has been said that Lisa is the only one keeping the school going. There are several subjects that have been cut, such as Geography (which was proving to be an embarrassment), math, and music, gym and art (due to a lack of funding). The majority of Springfield's adults attended Springfield Elementary in "The President Wore Pearls".

The school is horribly underfunded. For instance, there is a cinder block in place of a tether ball, and it has several grossly incompetent teachers; a camp of gypsies were once shown living on the school's playground as well. Also, only the teachers and the student body president eat french fries made from potatoes. The milk was shown to be from rats provided by Fat Tony.

The school's lack of funding has been the center of several episodes, including "The PTA Disbands", in which the teachers go on strike until more funding is provided and "The President Wore Pearls" in which Lisa leads a student strike to get music, gym and art back.

West Springfield Elementary School

This school has been seen only in the episode "Trilogy of Error". Lisa, in a rush to get to school, hitches a ride with Krusty who accidentally goes to the wrong school. West Springfield Elementary has a French class and is attended by a boy named Thelonious, who Lisa fell in love with. The fact that West Springfield Elementary resembles Springfield Elementary is a parody on how some public school systems build elementary schools that use exactly the same blueprints.

Waverly Hills Elementary School

This is Springfield's best Elementary school. In one episode Homer moves into Waverly Hills just so Bart and Lisa can have a better education. However, they leave as they don't fit in.

Springfield Preparatory School

Encountered by the Simpson family in "The Bart Wants What It Wants", it is attended by the children of many of Springfield's more affluent citizens, including Dr. Hibbert's daughter, Kent Brockman's daughter and Rainier Wolfcastle's daughter Greta.

Springfield Christian School

This is a school run by the First Church of Springfield which is attended by Springfiled's Christian community like the Flanders' and the Lovejoy's.

St Sebastian's Girls School

This is where Millhouse's girlfriend, Samantha Stankey, gets sent to school. It is a Catholic School run by nuns with a notoriety of wicked girls attending.

Miss Tillingham's Elementary School

This is a private school for Springfield's upper class, similar to the Prep school.

Enriched Learning Center for Gifted Children

Attended by Bart after he cheated on a test in the episode "Bart the Genius". Bart got tricked by the students easily for his food.

Springfield Magnet School for the Gifted and Troublesome

At the end of "The President Wore Pearls", Lisa is sent here by Skinner, intending to stop the strike she started. She discovers a charming French boy who tells her of their large library, but Homer immediately stopped her from going due to not wanting to drive 45 minutes every day.

High Schools

Springfield High

Because there are very few teenage characters in The Simpsons, Springfield High School is most often seen in flashbacks, notably to when Homer and Marge met. Squeaky Voice Teen goes there. Moe once revealed that the Springfield High was right next door to his bar (Moe's). The SH students buy cigarettes at Moe's.

Springfield Junior High School

This is where all of Springfield's teenagers go to like Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney. This is possibly the school attended by Homer and Marge Simpson.

Colleges

Springfield University

Springfield has a large and prestigious college which Homer attended in the episode "Homer Goes to College". It teaches several different courses, including nuclear physics, and the meaning of cartoons.

Springfield A&M

The longtime rival of Springfield U, its mascot is a pig named "Sir Oinks-a-lot" who has several powerful friends, including Richard Nixon. The two schools meet in an annual football game. The college is often referred to as a "cow college," as it was literally founded by a cow. Lenny and Carl are both alumni.

Springfield Heights Institute of Technology

Attended by Apu during the 1970s, where he enrolled in Professor Frink's Computer Science class. During Apu's stay they had a least one supercomputer which ran on punch cards.

Springfield Community College

Marge took a painting class here in "Brush with Greatness". Also, Homer briefly taught a class on "Secrets of a Successful Marriage". Other classes taught there include "how to chew tobacco", "orange eating", "funk dancing for self-defence" and "Strip for your wife".

Alma Mater

Several of the characters on the show went to college or University, including:

It should be noted that Homer Simpson did not have a degree when the plant opened; he just turned up. In Homer Goes to College, he was forced to take Nuclear Physics and cheated on the test. It is presumed he got the degree because Burns wouldn't rehire him without it.

Harvard and the Ivies

Many of the Simpsons writers attended Harvard, including: [1]

Former director Lauren MacMullan is also a Harvard alumni, and was briefly president of the Harvard Lampoon. [2]

Other Simpsons writers who have attended well-known universities (Ivy League or otherwise) include: