The Big Bang Theory: Where Did Sheldon Cooper Go To College?

Throughout the original run of "The Big Bang Theory," Sheldon Cooper, the series protagonist played by Jim Parsons, remains oddly tight-lipped about where he went to college ... but definitely believes that his education was much better than the ones received by his friends and colleagues Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg), and Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar). So, where did he get his education?

The answer to this question was eventually revealed on the first major spin-off of "The Big Bang Theory," the prequel series "Young Sheldon," which wrapped up its run in 2024 with Sheldon moving to California. (Fans of "The Big Bang Theory" know that the show is set in Pasadena, while the prequel takes place in Sheldon's home state of Texas.) Before I get into more details, though, here's the gist: Sheldon attends East Texas Tech for his undergraduate degree at an extremely young age and eventually goes to the California Institute of Technology for graduate studies (also at an extremely young age).

Just for some further context, Leonard studied at Princeton University, Howard went to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (usually abbreviated to MIT), and we know that Raj studied at Cambridge University in England. These are some pretty prestigious universities, and while the fictional East Texas Tech may or may not be at the same academic level as these institutions, the more remarkable thing about Sheldon's education is, again, his age. That's right: Sheldon started his college career at 11 years old.

While most of his peers were in middle school, Sheldon Cooper, played by Iain Armitage throughout "Young Sheldon," started going to college at East Texas Tech at age 11. (Within the prequel's timeline, he started attending in 1991.) Sheldon went to the fictional school for three years before graduating with a degree in 1994 at 14 years old — and during his time there, he met some highly influential people in his life, including the university's president Linda Hagemeyer (Wendie Malick) and professors Dr. Grant Linkletter (Ed Begley Jr.) and Dr. John Sturgis (Wallace Shawn), just to name a few.

So, how does the boy genius end up at Caltech? In the third season of "Young Sheldon," Sheldon heads to Caltech with his dad George Cooper Sr. (Lance Barber) to see Stephen Hawking give a lecture, which is, canonically, the first time Sheldon visits his future workplace. Later, when Sheldon applies for graduate school as a child prodigy, he's torn between two options: Caltech and MIT. So, why does he pick the former? The weather.

Caltech actually starts pursuing Sheldon towards the end of season 3, inviting him to study there, but Sheldon doesn't make the decision to go west until the seventh and final season of "Young Sheldon." After co-writing a physics paper with a German tutor he met during his time studying abroad, both MIT and Caltech woo Sheldon, but when he and his dad travel to Boston to check out the former in the season 7 episode "A Fancy Article and a Scholarship for a Baby," a blizzard quite literally stops the kid in his tracks, and he chooses to go to Caltech.

The rest, as they say, is history, and not only does Sheldon get a PhD at Caltech, but he also ends up working there as an adult on "The Big Bang Theory." That happens to be where Leonard Hofstadter, Howard Wolowitz, and Raj Koothrappali work too; Sheldon is a theoretical physicist, Leonard is an experimental physicist, Howard is an engineer (and the only member of the main gang without a PhD, drawing derision from Sheldon), and Raj is an astrophysicist.

A ton of action takes place at Caltech throughout "The Big Bang Theory," whether we're focusing on Sheldon's work, hanging out with the gang in their various labs, or, most frequently, eating lunch in the cafeteria, where quite a few group scenes on "The Big Bang Theory" take place. (As a little joke on "Young Sheldon," when the titular young Sheldon and George visit the university in the prequel series, they make it a point to stop in the cafeteria.) It feels right that Sheldon ends up working at the place where he got his PhD, particularly because one of his most clearly defined character traits is that he hates change and avoids it at all costs, so of course he simply got a research position at the university where he earned his graduate degrees.

"Young Sheldon" is streaming on HBO Max and Netflix, and "The Big Bang Theory" is streaming on HBO Max.