Let’s all be honest with each other: superheroes are real. You know it, I know it, we all know it. And while the movies and comic books they appear in guard some of their personal information to protect their privacy, we can still do a little fact-digging of our own to find out more about them.

Every time I see a superhero movie, I am always left wondering where the hero went to college. I mean, they’re all obviously intelligent guys, and most of them have had a great deal of success, so they definitely went to college. After a little research and a few cases of Red Bull, I was able to logically deduce where these super-students got their collegiate degrees.

So without any further ado, allow me to reveal my findings.

Superman- Northwestern University

Superman totally went to Northwestern. Superman is from the Midwest (Smallville, KS to be exact), so that allows us to zero in on a region. And we all know Superman works as a journalist at The Daily Planet when he isn’t out fighting Lex Luthor or avoiding Kryptonite like it’s the Bubonic plague. How does such a seeming everyman land a job at such a prestigious newspaper? He has to go to an impressive journalism school!

Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism is one of the best programs in the country. And, it’s located in Chicago, which is often said to have been the main inspiration of Superman’s adopted city of Metropolis. Too bad Superman didn’t play basketball for them; Northwestern is the only major conference team to have never made the NCAA tournament!

Spiderman- Columbia

Superhero. Public Avenger. Ivy Leaguer?
Spiderman author Stan Lee has always written that his hero attended the fictitious Empire State University, but close readers of the series have always believed the school to be closely based on Columbia University. Many site the student demonstrations at Columbia in 1968 as the main inspiration for The Spectacular Spiderman #9, where Spiderman must watch over the violent protests taking place at Empire State University.

Peter Parker earned a full science scholarship from Midtown High School and would have probably studied at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at the Columbia University Medical Center.

When it comes to electives, Columbia is known for having a fine visual arts program, which would have been an excellent place for Peter Parker to hone his freelance photography skills.

Captain America- UCLA

Captain America was a scrawny underachiever until he got to try some of Dr. Josef Reinstein’s Super-Soldier serum. At that moment he blossomed into the best soldier the American Army has ever seen, going on to defeat any Nazi soldier that stood in his way.

The record is silent on where Captain America went to college, but after little research it’s highly probable he went to UCLA. We know that Captain America was an aspiring illustrator before WWII, which means his skills would blossom while studying at the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. It also has a rich tradition of admitting soldiers off the GI bill, and Captain America knows a good deal when he sees one.

Iron Man- MIT

This one is pretty easy. A very central aspect of Iron Man’s persona is that he was a boy genius who went to MIT at the young age of 15. While there, he studied at the schools’ esteemed Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, no doubt learning some skills that would come in handy when he decides to build an iron suit that allows him to fly like an eagle and sting like a gamma ray.

Interestingly, Robert Downey Jr. (who plays the role of Iron Man in the movies) dropped out of high school and didn’t go to college, which just goes to show that while you may not have an MIT degree, you at least can always act like you did.

Batman- University of Chicago

While Bruce Wayne may have his flaws as a business man, there’s no way he becomes the president and CEO of Wayne enterprises without a stellar business degree. We also know that Batman’s beloved Gotham City is loosely based on the city of Chicago (indeed, The Dark Knight used Chicago as its setting for Gotham City).

Thus, where does a person from Chicago go to get an excellent business degree? Why, the University of Chicago, of course! The Booth School of Business is one of the most renowned business schools in the nation and boasts an extremely powerful alumni base. But I seriously doubt any of those alumni have a Batmobile…