Preetinder Singh Bharara was born in Firozpur, Punjab, India, in 1968 and immigrated to the United States in 1970, becoming a U.S. citizen at age 12. He graduated as valedictorian from Ranney School in 1986, then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1990, and a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School in 1993, where he was a member of the Columbia Law Review.