We develop a leader-specific theory to explain economic and political liberalization. We argue that leaders’ policy decisions in office depend, in part, on their exposure to classical liberal values while at university, through the content of social science and humanities courses. Variation comes from two sources: across educational institution types and within them via specialization. Educational institutions differ in terms of their autonomy from the state, which determines universities’ quality in the social sciences and humanities, and the degree of hierarchy within the classroom (egalitarian vs. authoritarian), which reinforces/hinders students’ ability to internalize course content. Within-institution variation comes from specialization: some specializations have a larger curriculum component that emphasizes classical liberal values. Using a novel data set on country leaders’ educational attainment and specialization, we show that leaders who attended autonomous and egalitarian universities—particularly those specializing in economics or law—are more likely to implement liberal reform across policy areas.