According to sources familiar with the matter, Snowden, a high school dropout who later passed the high school equivalency test known as the GED, stated on his résumé earlier this year that he attended computer-related classes at Johns Hopkins University, a Tokyo campus of the University of Maryland and the University of Liverpool in Britain.

According to the sources, the résumé stated that Snowden "estimated" he would receive a master's degree in computer security from Liverpool some time this year.

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Tracey Reeves, a spokeswoman for Johns Hopkins, said the university could find no record that Snowden had taken classes there.

She added that Snowden might have taken vocational training courses from a private, for-profit entity called Advanced Career Technologies, which operated under the name Computer Career Institute at Johns Hopkins. Reeves said Johns Hopkins ended its relationship with the company in 2009, and that the company appeared to have shut down last year.

A spokesman for the University of Maryland's University College division said records showed Snowden did attend, in person, a summer session at a campus that the college operates in Asia. He declined to specify the location or provide any information about Snowden's course work.

A spokeswoman for the University of Liverpool said in an e-mail that Snowden had registered for an online master's programme in computer security in 2011. But she added that "he is not active in his studies and has not completed the programme".