Soong then began his early schooling in Taipei, where classmates remembered him as a "taciturn boy who stayed out of most of the usual social activities" and was "buried in his books."

In 1964, Soong graduated first in his class from National Chengchi University with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree specializing in diplomacy. He then went to complete graduate studies in the United States, where he earned a Master of Arts