Did Cormac McCarthy attend college? Does Cormac McCarthy have a degree?

American writer, Cormac McCarthy began attending the University of Tennessee in 1951, however, he did not have a degree because he did not complete the program. While he was there, the studied physics and engineering, and became interested in writing after a professor asked him to repunctuate a collection of 18th-century essays for inclusion in a textbook.

He dropped out to join the United States Air Force in 1953 and was stationed in Alaska. Due to his love for reading, he returned to college in 1957, where he published two stories dubbed Wake for Susan and A Drowning Accident in the student magazine.

McCarthy won the Ingram-Merrill Award for creative writing in 1959 and 1960, however, he dropped out of college again and left for Chicago. His debut novel dubbed The Orchard Keeper, was published in 1965. He traveled to Southern Europe, where he penned his second novel titled Outer Dark in 1968, and released his third novel 11 years later – Suttree.