Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Oxford — and Jamie Beaton’s still studying

For most people, finishing a degree marks the end of a long academic journey. For Jamie Beaton, it seems to be an invitation to begin another one.

At 31, the New Zealand-born entrepreneur has collected qualifications from some of the world’s most prestigious universities.

Harvard, Stanford, Yale and Oxford are only the beginning.

He has also built a multimillion-dollar education business, travels internationally for work and even teaches university students. Yet amid all of that, he keeps finding his way back into the classroom.

Beaton graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in 2016, picking up a master’s degree in applied mathematics along the way. He went on to earn an MBA from Stanford, a law degree from Yale and a doctorate in public policy from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes scholar — all before turning 28, The New York Times reported.

And then he kept going. He has at least 12 advanced degrees from top universities.

An extraordinary academic journey

Beaton has earned additional master’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford, Princeton, Cornell, Dartmouth, King’s College London and Tsinghua University in Beijing.

The subjects are almost as varied as the institutions: education entrepreneurship, education technology, finance, healthcare policy and economics, implementation science, war studies and global affairs.

He is now working towards a master’s degree in data science at Brown University.

What drives someone to keep returning to university?

“The first five degrees had a clear skill acquisition component to them,” Beaton told The New York Times. “Since then, it’s really been about following different passions and curiosities.”

His academic pursuits are only one part of an unusually crowded life.

Beaton is co-founder and chief executive of Crimson Education, a college admissions counselling company valued at more than $600 million, according to The New York Times. Clients pay between $30,000 and $200,000 for multiyear programmes intended to improve their children’s chances of admission to leading universities.

From applicant to entrepreneur

The roots of the business stretch back to Beaton’s own ambition to study in the United States.

Growing up in Auckland, education was central to family life. His mother, Paula Beaton, invested heavily in tutoring and academic coaching for her only child.

“Everything revolved around education, and we didn’t see it as a sacrifice,” she told The New York Times.

In his final year of high school, Beaton took more than twice the required number of courses and was accepted by 25 universities, including Harvard, Yale and Princeton.

Before leaving New Zealand, he co-founded the counselling service that became Crimson Education, initially helping international students navigate the complicated process of applying to American universities.

At Harvard, Beaton hardly confined himself to lectures. He joined 15 student organisations and, while still an undergraduate, contacted billionaire hedge fund founder Julian Robertson.

That approach eventually led to Beaton spending two days a week at Tiger Management in New York between classes. The firm later became an early investor in Crimson Education.

His appetite for work has apparently not diminished.

“I love the action, and I love a jam-packed day,” Beaton said. “It’s good fun.”

He continues studying while travelling internationally on business. During a recent trip to India, he submitted an end-of-semester project for his Brown University course. He says he tries to get six hours of sleep each night.

‘He can’t stop applying’

Beaton’s seemingly endless academic journey has also kept his former professors busy.

Amy Chua, the Yale Law School professor and author of “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” has written more recommendation letters for him than she can count.

“He can’t stop applying to things,” she told The New York Times.

For Beaton, the pull of another challenge appears difficult to resist.

When a mentor once suggested he take a week off with friends in Cancun, Beaton had little interest.

“Honestly, Alex,” he replied, “I can’t think of anything worse than sitting on a beach for five days when I want to work.”