Growing up was no different than it was for most children in the Faroes at the time, and he was engaged in odd jobs while not attending school.

During the 1896/97 academic year he attended Askov Folk High School, where he made the acquaintance of his compatriot Símun av Skarði.

Rasmussen also attended the State Teachers School (Danish: Statens Lærerhøjskole) in Copenhagen, where his main study area was science.

Rasmussen's wife, Anna Suffía, served as superintendent after Símun av Skarði and Rasmus Rasmussen founded the Faroese Folk High School (Faroese: Føroya Fólkaháskúli) in Klaksvík in 1899.

His teacher's position there was the source of his Faroese epithet Rasmus á Háskúlanum (literally, 'Rasmus at the high school').