She attended Northwest Missouri State Teachers College now known Northwest Missouri State University, majoring in mathematics with a minor in English and graduating in 1945. Jennings was awarded the only mathematics degree in her class. Although she had originally intended to study journalism, she decided to change to mathematics because she had a bad relationship with her adviser. Later in her life, she earned a master's degree in English at the University of Pennsylvania in 1967 and was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Northwest Missouri State University in 2002.