What Is McDonald's Hamburger University, Exactly?

Hamburgerology. It's a degree that you're unlikely to find in any college catalog at the local state university. And yet for thousands of students who have gone through McDonald's University, it can be just as valuable as any undergraduate degree. While the school was originally intended to train would-be McDonald's store managers and franchise owners in all-things hamburger, it has gone on to become the stuff of legends.

Founded in 1961, in Elk Grove, Illinois, Hamburger U put out 14 students in its first class. Since then, University of the People says upwards of 300,000 people have graduated from the training course. The idea for Hamburger University came from Ray Kroc himself. Kroc's decision to train his employees formally was a pretty big deal back in '61, as was the $100,000 he spent to take the first iterations of HU out of the ideation phase and into real-life.

Education at the U is practical — you learn pretty much everything that a restaurant manager would need to know to successfully run a Mickey D's. Subjects include restaurant service, cleanliness, quality assurance, creating value, and more. The curriculum is delivered via a number of different types of learning environments. Some of the information is taught online. Some of it is hands-on training in an employee's home store.

The final chapter of the training is a five-day stint at a Hamburger U campus. While those lessons include in-class lectures with trained instructors, much of the HU campus training centers around practical applications, right down to controlled simulations of a McDonald's at rush hour. These simulations teach students more than just how to serve up a classic McDonald's hamburger with a side of french fries cooked in the chain's signature oil. They train people to think on their feet when stress tends to push rational thought out the window.

While culturally, McDonald's might be looked at as a place where many teens get their first jobs, behind-the-scenes, the story is very different. Hamburger University is a big deal and has a far reach. There are now campuses all over the world in places like Dubai, China, Sydney, Hong Kong, Hamburg, and Singapore. Although it doesn't cost McDonald's employees anything to train at Hamburger University, getting into the program in some places, like the Shanghai campus, can be very competitive. According to Business Insider, only 1% of the people who apply to that program get accepted.

Graduates of the program get a diploma in hamburgerology, but that isn't where the educational benefits end. Students who go through the classes can trade their diploma for college credits at some colleges, with lower-level employees being eligible to earn 23 credits to put toward an associate or bachelor's degree. Members of upper management are granted 27 credits.

Many graduates of Hamburger University go on to do impressive things. They become in-store managers, franchise owners, and even part of the school's staff. And at least one of McDonald's former CEOs, Jim Skinner, is said to have graduated with his own degree in hamburgerology from the Harvard of fast food Education.