Kennedy attended public schools and received a bachelor's degree from Weber State University, graduating in 1928. His first government job was as a staff member for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. During this time he built up his financial experience and later became assistant to then-Fed Chairman Marriner Eccles. Kennedy was also attending George Washington University and received master's and law degrees from there in 1935 and 1937. He completed the Stonier Graduate School of Banking program, then housed at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, in 1939.