Marlowe was well-educated ; he earned a bachelor 's degree in 1584 and a master 's degree in 1587 . Marlowe attended The King 's School , Canterbury ( where a house is now named after him ) and Corpus Christi College , Cambridge on a scholarship and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1584 . In 1587 the university hesitated to award him his master 's degree because of a rumor that he had converted to Roman Catholicism and intended to go to the English college at Rheims to prepare for the priesthood .