 After graduation, Barkley went to Emory College (now part of Emory University) in Oxford, Georgia, the "alma mater" of several administrators and faculty members at Marvin.During the 1897–1898 academic year, he was active in the debating society and the Delta Tau Delta fraternity, but he could not afford to continue his education and returned to Clinton after the spring semester.He took a job teaching at Marvin College but did not make enough money to meet his basic living expenses.