After graduating from BYU, Christensen won a Rhodes Scholarship and spent two years studying applied econometrics at Oxford's Queen's College, receiving an M.Phil. in 1977. While at Oxford, Christensen was a member of the men's basketball team, which won back-to-back British University Sports Federation championships in 1975 and 1976 and the English Basketball Association's national championship for non-league teams in 1977. Christensen then returned to the United States to attend the Harvard Business School, receiving an MBA with high distinction in 1979.