Terrorism has become a global threat, especially after the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11 in 2001. After the attacks, President George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore established the hypothesis that poverty and a lack of education are the main drivers, which trigger people to engage in terrorism and join terrorist organizations. This caused said belief to spread through media and become a commonly believed fact, but is this true? Therefore this thesis seeks to find out whether terrorists are really people who are undereducated and threatened by poverty and therefore, act out of despair, or if there are different motives, which trigger people to engage in such extreme behaviors. This thesis is looking at this assumption with special regard to the factor of education and will give an insight in the educational level of terrorists in comparison with the educational level of their country of residence. Therefore, it can be examined whether terrorists have a lower or a higher level of education compared on a national level. This means that if the assumption holds true, that terrorists are undereducated, aid for education would be a very useful tool to counter terrorism.