Do Amish go to college?

Amish education ends at eighth grade

amish go collegeAmish do not attend college, or even high school.  Amish feel an eight-grade education is enough for members of their society.  Amish traditionally have farmed and performed manual labor.

Sometimes, Amish-raised individuals go on to get a GED or even to graduate from college.  On occasion some Amish youth have even attended high school.  But education beyond the eighth grade is extremely rare for the Amish.

However, some Amish do take correspondence courses to learn a particular skill, such as accounting.  More and more Amish have begun running their own businesses in recent years.

Some think that Amish may become more open to formal education beyond the eighth grade in future, due to the demands of business.

Read more on why Amish finish school at grade eight.

Photo credit: ajagendorf25

Get the Amish in your inbox

Join 15,000 email subscribers. No spam. 100% free

    Leave a Reply to Erik/Amish America Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    3 Comments

    1. Marlene

      Higher Education

      Beachy Amish have a slightly different approach. One woman, who had converted in Arkansas, was permitted to continue her education, and study genetics. I think that this was partially because she was beyond typical marriage age, and she needed to support herself, as well as genetics is an important issue within the Amish community.

    2. mike m

      Are the teachers of the Amish children trained to be teachers? After 8 years of schooling are the students as smart as the teacher?

      1. Amish teacher training

        Training of Amish teachers varies between communities. Teachers in schools in less traditional communities are likely to have more training than those in more traditional communities, where they may have little-to-zero formal training. A teacher may first serve as a teacher’s assistant to learn how to handle a classroom or may get experience via substituting. Teachers learn via teachers’ meetings and also through teachers’ publications. There is significant diversity among Amish schools which makes this question difficult to answer in a single comment. Train Up a Child by Karen Johnson-Weiner is a good book for more.