Jeffrey Epstein never obtained a degree. Not from Cooper Union, where he spent the late 1960s studying advanced mathematics. Not from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at NYU, where he subsequently enrolled in courses on mathematical physiology before discreetly leaving without finishing anything. Nevertheless, by his mid-twenties, he was teaching calculus in front of pupils at one of Manhattan’s most prestigious private schools, chalk in hand. A dropout teaching at the Dalton School, the kind of school where tuition fees alone signify entry into a particular class of New York life, has an almost darkly humorous quality.
Epstein was by all accounts the smartest child in Sea Gate, a working-class gated community nestled on the outskirts of Coney Island, where he grew up. His parents were quiet and modest, according to neighbors. His mother was a school assistant, and his father maintained the city’s parks. As a teenager, Epstein tutored classmates for pocket money, which speaks to both his aptitude and his early desire to profit from any advantage he possessed. He skipped two grades and graduated from Lafayette High School at sixteen. That is truly uncommon. A person, or at least the narrative they tell about themselves, tends to be defined by this type of fact.
In 1969, he started studying advanced mathematics at Cooper Union. He moved to NYU’s Courant Institute in 1971, one of the nation’s more serious centers for mathematical research. In 1974, he left without earning his degree. There is no longer a formal explanation for why. He might have become impatient or noticed a quicker path. For someone like Epstein, it’s also possible that the classroom was merely a rung on a ladder that he could grab and discard.
The part that still begs questions is what transpired next. At the age of twenty-one and without a degree, Epstein was hired in September 1974 to teach mathematics and calculus at the Dalton School. Donald Barr, the school’s headmaster at the time, was notorious for making unusual hiring decisions. By June 1974, three months prior to Epstein’s arrival, Barr had left the position, and it is still genuinely unclear if Barr hired him directly or if the decision was made after he left. In any case, someone allowed a young man without credentials to enter a classroom full of teenagers and claim to be a teacher. No matter how many times you read that detail, it never quite feels right.
According to reports, Epstein was well-liked and charming among students, especially the young female staff at the school. A teacher who was willing to break the rules, show up uninvited to student parties, and pay unusually close attention to girls was described by former students who later spoke with journalists. It appears that nobody has stepped in. One of the more unsettling themes that runs through Epstein’s whole narrative is observing how institutions interpret warning signs or decide not to.
Early in 1976, he was fired from Dalton due to subpar work, but by then he had already made the crucial connection: a Wall Street-based Dalton father was so impressed by this unqualified math teacher’s intelligence that he personally called Alan Greenberg at Bear Stearns. Epstein was hired by one of America’s most influential banks in a matter of months. He merely acknowledged that no one would have given him a chance if the company had not found out that he had falsified his resume, claiming two degrees from universities he had never earned. In any case, they retained him.
That’s what Epstein’s education shows, maybe more than anything else. It has nothing to do with what he learned in school, but rather with what opportunities are available to someone who is intelligent, bold, and fortunate enough to find organizations that will turn a blind eye. His lack of qualifications was never really a barrier as it ought to have been. That reveals something about him. It also says something about the systems that surround him.
