A graduate of Oberlin College, Betty Boyd Caroli holds a master's degree in Mass Communications from the Annenberg School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in American Civilization from New York University. A Fulbright scholar to Italy, she also held fellowships and grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, the Hoover Presidential Library, and others. After studying in Salzburg, Austria, and Perugia, Italy (but before joining the faculty at the City University of New York), she taught in Palermo and Rome.
Frequently appearing on national television in the United States and the BBC to discuss the role of presidents' wives in American politics, Caroli has been a guest on Today, The O'Reilly Factor, Lehrer NewsHour, "Book Notes" with Brian Lamb, and many others.