How much do college degrees matter in the 2016 election?

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was 34 credits away from graduating when he dropped out of Marquette University. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, while a medical doctor, never finished his undergraduate biology degree at Baylor University before he headed to Duke's medical school. And while Walker's and Paul's higher education credentials--or lack thereof--have drawn intense media scrutiny as November 2016 approaches, these Republican politicians' college education reflects the reality for nearly three-quarters of voting Americans.

But unlike the rest of the general electorate, these men are also top contenders for the nation's highest executive office. According to a recent CBS news poll, 30 percent of Republicans would support Walker, and another third would consider voting for Rand Paul.

Examining Walker's chances of winning a GOP primary, CBS News' John Dickerson points out that the lack of a college degree "clearly hasn't slowed his career."

In fact, certain stories from Walker's life position the governor to campaign on the national stage as a political average Joe. "Running against the elites who all have post-graduate degrees is always a safe place to be as a politician," Dickerson said.

When allegations came out that Walker might have been "forced out" of college, the Journal-Sentinel conducted a thorough investigation that came out in favor of the governor's early years.

"I can say unequivocally that isn't true," Walker said in response to the Milwaukee newspaper's questions, and since then, the unsavory rumors have largely been put to rest. Walker has cited a job opportunity as the reason for his incomplete degree, and his senior year at the school also conflicted with his very first state political race, when he ran for a seat in a heavily Democratic district against state Rep. Gwen Moore in 1990.

Even more than a political boon, Walker's distance from educational institutions could serve as a policy advantage.

Not only does his biography "send a kind of populist message," according to Matt Dallek, George Washington University assistant professor in political management, but his executive decisions reinforce it. In Wisconsin, Walker is known for his efforts to dismantle teacher's unions and cut funding from the state's higher education flagship institution, the University of Wisconsin.

Dallek recalls Republican hero Ronald Reagan, who struck out-- successfully-- against the public University of California system as a "bastion of tax-payer supported privilege" while state governor.

So is there a lesson in campaigning to be learned for these would-be candidates?

Dallek mentions that it may be less about their higher education bona fides as it is a simple question of their honesty.

Presidential frontrunner Rand Paul has been on the receiving end of flack for claims he made to TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington in early February, where he twice mentioned a biology degree that he never actually received.

When Arrington started talking about his economics degree, Paul playfully said that "Mine's in biology and English so this is going to be a great conversation."

After a Washington Post fact-check of the remarks, a spokesperson for Paul responded with a statement. While the doctor did not have a college biology degree, his office said that "Dr. Paul finished the requirements for medical school in two and one half years."

"In the jocular bantering with the host, Dr. Rand Paul mentioned 'degree,' but anyone who has read Dr. Paul's official biography on his Web site can see that he was accepted early into one of the most prestigious medical schools in the country--Duke Universrity School of Medicine," his communications director Brian Darling wrote in a statement. "While in college, Dr. Paul did study biology and English. He has no college degree and has a medical degree."

Paul, who has also been accused of plagiarism, could suffer from this blow more than anything else.

"The ability to tell the truth and be authentic kind of undermines his brand--undermines the biography that he is pushing," Dallek contends.

Sen. Paul has suffered from other inflated claims. He previously advertised that he was a "board-certified" ophthalmologist. But the American Board of Ophthalmology, the eye doctor association du jour, never issued his recertification. In actuality, his certification was from the National Board of Ophthalmology, an organization that Paul himself started in the 1990s and became defunct in 2000 before a 2005 resurrection, according to a Washington Post report.

And if there's any lesson to be learned about college from the 2012 election, it's that higher education still features prominently in the American Dream. Candidates who vehemently countered the White House's policy pushes for college drew a lot of flack.

"President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob," potential GOP nominee Rick Santorum said at a Michigan Tea Party meeting during the 2012 primary cycle. "I understand why he wants you to go to college. He wants to remake you in his image."

Media criticism also followed Mitt Romney, after he said to potential Ohio voters during the last national election cycle that he was "not going to give you government money to pay for your college."

Though when it comes to historical perspective, there aren't many modern comparisons. Only 11 presidents without a college degree have ever been elected, and in the last century, only Harry Truman has made it into the Oval Office without a bachelor's-- though there is precedent for a Rand Paul-esque occupant of the White House. William McKinley, who never completed a degree at Allegheny College, received a law degree after attending Albany Law School. Presidents George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and Abraham Lincoln also rank among those who had not completed college.

But it may come down to just how politicians can present themselves.

"Scott Walker is making the 'regular guy' pitch," Dickerson said, pointing out the difficulty of some candidates to connect to America's middle class.

"The much bigger danger in politics is to be painted as an egg-head."