Clifton Webb recreates his Sitting Pretty role as Mr. Lynn Belvedere, the World's Greatest Genius. Belvedere discovers that he is ineligible for an honorary award because he never attended college, so he enrolls as a freshman in a major university, becoming the target for "hazing" from obnoxious upperclassman Alan Young. The middle-aged Belvedere rapidly builds himself into Big Man on Campus, which complicates his intention of remaining incognito while attending college. Journalism major Shirley Temple likewise threatens to blow Belvedere's cover by writing an article about him for a major magazine. Before earning his college degree (four years' worth of study in six months!), Belvedere plays Cupid for Temple and her estranged boyfriend Tom Drake. Mr. Belvedere Goes to College proved successful enough for a follow-up film, 1951's Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell.
—Hal Erickson, Rovi