18 celebrities you had no idea had college degrees, from Kourtney Kardashian to Will Ferrell and more

IT’S NOT news that becoming an A-list celebrity doesn’t require a college degree, but some stars went the extra mile to further their education.

Here are some shocking college degrees celebrities have earned, from Kourtney Kardashian to Will Ferrell.  

AZIZ ANSARI

18

MARKETING

Parks and Recreation star Aziz Ansari earned a marketing degree from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

His career as an actor and comedian took off once he started doing stand-up while in college and diligently worked on his craft.

“I didn’t have any aspirations to be in movies or TV or anything like that,” he said on NPR’s All Things Considered podcast.

“I just liked doing stand-up and wanted to get better at it the same way someone would like to get better at playing guitar.”

BRIDGET MENDLER

18

PHILOPSHY AND LAW

Former Good Luck Charlie star Bridget Mendler shocked fans when they discovered her post-Disney identity via her LinkedIn page: an aspiring doctor at The Massachusetts Institue of Technology.

MIT’s website describes Bridget as “a Ph.D. student at the MIT Media Lab with a focus on technologies that support inclusive and collaborative governance and citizen engagement.”

The site gives a nod to her past career as an entertainer, and said that Bridget’s​​ online interaction with her fans “inspired her interest in social platforms as a means for bringing more voices, experiences, and expertise to government decision-making.”

Her LinkedIn page says the former teen star will graduate with a doctorate degree in philosophy in 2024 from MIT and is also set to earn a law degree from Harvard the same year.

It appears that she has not acted since 2019.

DYLAN AND COLE SPROUSE

18

VIDEO GAME DESIGN AND ARCHAEOLOGY

Dyan and Cole Sprouse went from living the Suite Life to the dorm life when they attended New York University between 2011 and 2015. 

While many may assume the famous twins would desire to further their knowledge of acting and television production in NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, they opted for something much different.

Cole opted to study archelogy in the Gallatin School of Individualized Study while Dylan studied videogame production. 

In a 2015 interview with Teen Vogue, Cole explained he and his brother made a “conscious decision” to branch out from acting.

While the former Disney stars said they were happy with their move, the industry was not.

“Because it wasn’t acting or entertainment, which is very often considered a pinnacle profession where you can’t do something better than acting, singing, or anything like that, it was seen as something negative,” he recalled. 

“Which was interesting it was tinted with a narrative of failure. 

“Right after [The Suite Life: On Deck] had ended, we were being hounded. 

“So we really wanted to step out and fade away from the industry and, you know, we were pleasantly surprised at how often people reached out wondering what we were doing and where we were.”

Cole has since gone on to star in the uber-successful show, Riverdale.

EMMA WATSON

18

ENGLISH LITERATURE

It turns out that Emma Watson is just as studious as her iconic character, Hemione Granger.

Emma always had higher education on her mind, so once she wrapped up the final Harry Potter film, she applied to school and was accepted into Brown University to study English literature.

Unfortunately, her decision upset quite a few people in the entertainment industry.

“Essentially, I took five years out to study, doing only a few smaller projects, and, to a lot of people, it seemed like I was passing up a lot of opportunity,” she explained to Interview magazine.

“I received a lot of angry phone calls.”

All’s well that ends well, because Emma seamlessly moved back into acting and also began working on passion projects, such as becoming a United Nations ambassador and fighting for gender equality. 

EVA LONGORIA

18

CHICANO STUDIES

Eva Longoria graduated from California State University, Northridge with a master’s degree in Chicano Studies in 2013.

In a statement confirming her achievement to various outlets, her representative said she worked toward the degree for three years – as she was filming Desperate Housewives – and wrote her theses on the value of Latinas in careers related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

JAMIE FOXX

18

CLASSICAL MUSIC

It may not be surprising that actor and singer Jamie Foxx went to college for music, but what is surprising is the type of music he studied: classical music.

He said he owes his musical prowess to his grandmother, who made sure he learned how to play piano growing up.

“I went to college on a classical piano scholarship,” he previously said, according to a website dedicated to all things Jamie Foxx. 

“My grandmother made me practice one full hour a day.  Every day. 

“Man. I thought all she wanted was for me not to have ANY fun. 

“Next thing you know, you have a career in music,” he mused.

He went on to claim that music makes people smart, and it specifically helps him with his motor skills, reading, and memorization. 

He graduated from United States International University in 1988.

JOHN LEGEND

18

ENGLISH

John Legend is now famous for his sweet ballads and charming personality, but he once turned heads as an incredibly intelligent young kid.

John impressively began high school at the age of 12 and graduated at the top of his class four years later.

He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in English with an emphasis on African American literature from the University of Pennsylvania.

He also holds an honorary degree from Duke University and the Berklee College of Music, plus an honorary doctorate degree from his alma mater.

In his commencement speech at the University of Pennsylvania’s 258th graduation, he said his secret to success is love.

“The key to success is opening up your mind and your heart to love, and spending your time doing things you love with people you love,” he stated.

KEN JEONG

18

MEDICAL

If a doctor is ever needed on Ken Keong’s set, people won’t have to look very far.

The comedian and actor chose the pre-med route at Duke University and earned his medical degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1995.

KOURTNEY KARDASHIAN

18

THEATER ARTS

The eldest Kardashian sister, Kourtney Kardashian, began her college education at Southern Methodist University and finished it at the University of Arizona, earning a bachelor’s degree in theater arts.

She admitted to Us Weekly that her anxiety gave her some troubles in college and that she failed two classes because she was too scared to speak in front of people.

It seems like she has come a long way since then.

LIONEL RICHIE

18

ECONOMICS

Lionel Richie’s decade-spanning music career combined with his knowledge of money certainly helped him achieve is estimated $200 million net worth.

Lionel graduated from Tuskegee University with an economics degree in 1974.

He was later awarded an honorary degree in music from Tuskegee and the Berklee College of Music.

LISA KUDROW

18

BIOLOGY

If acting didn’t work out for Lisa Kudrow, she hd a biology degree to fall back on.

That’s right, the Friends star earned her degree from Vassar College and was inspired to pursue the career because her father was a doctor.

However, after graduating, she convinced herself to have a go at acting after growing tired of hearing sitcom actors deliver lines poorly.

“It kept happening, so I finally just surrendered, and said: ‘Alright.  I am going to give it a try,’” she told The World.

“And Jon Lovitz is my brother’s best friend, I grew up with him.  

“He had just gotten on Saturday Night Live and I thought: ‘Oh, okay, so it is not some miracle that happens to certain people born under a lucky star.’”

MAYIM BIALIK

18

NEUROSCIENCE

Mayim Bialik is most recently known for playing Sheldon Cooper’s love interest in The Big Bang Theory, neuroscientist Amy Fowler.

But Mayim didn’t just play a neuroscientist – she is one herself.

Mayim rose to fame thanks to her starring role in the 1990s sitcom Blossom, but she also grew up loving science.

She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from the University of California Los Angeles in 2000 and earned her Ph.D. from the same university in 2007.

Bialik recalled to BrainandLife that while she was never a straight-A student, her admiration of science and interest in learning motivated her studies.

“I specifically fell in love with the action potential and the electrical properties of the neuron when I was in my first semester at UCLA,” she said. 

“I love understanding the way we think and feel and communicate—and neuroscience is the science of all that.”

NATALIE PORTMAN

18

PSYCHOLOGY

Natalie Portman studied at Harvard University shortly after the release of Star Wars: Episode I and originally didn’t care if furthering her education meant she would have to turn down some roles.

She did tell the press she’d “rather be smart than a movie star,” after all.

However, it was Natalie’s struggles through university as she worked toward her psychology degree that affirmed she’s meant to be an actress.

“When I got to Harvard just after the release of Star Wars: Episode I, I feared people would assume I had gotten in just for being famous, and not worthy of the intellectual rigor here,” she said during her 2015 commencement speech at her alma mater.

“It’s easy to romanticize my time here, but I had some difficult times here, » she explained. 

« Being 19, dealing with my first heartbreak, taking birth control that’s now off the market due to its depressive side effects …. There were several occasions I started crying in meetings with professors, overwhelmed with what I was supposed to pull off, when I could barely get myself out of bed in the morning.”

“I admitted to myself I couldn’t wait to go back and make more films. I had reclaimed my reason, » she shared.

RASHIDA JONES 

18

RELIGION

Rashida Jones never intended on becoming an actress.

In fact, she never felt a serious pull toward one job or another growing up.

​​“I never felt pushed in one direction in terms of career, or subjects in school, or friend groups, or anything,” she told The Guardian in 2020.

“I probably have a bit of a golden wash over my childhood, but my parents did a good job of really creating this little micro-universe for me to thrive in.”

She ended up attending Harvard University where she majored in religion, but also had the hopes of becoming a lawyer.

However, the O.J. Simpson trial turned her off of pursuing a career in law.

“The O.J. Simpson trial was disillusioning for me, » she wrote in an essay for  LA Magazine.

“It was the first time I realized that sometimes privilege can trump justice. 

“…I had wanted to be a lawyer, but after that I decided to do something else.”

Eventually, she joined some performance groups and fell in love with acting.

REBEL WILSON

18

LAW

Rebel Wilson grew up in a family of dog trainers, which is likely why she was tapped to host the one-season that aired of ABC’s dog grooming competition show, Pooch Perfect.

But instead of choosing to handle dogs her whole life, Rebel actually earned a law degree from the University of South Wales in 2009.

“A lot of people look at me and think I’m stupid,” she told Seth Meyers on his show in 2016.

“But no, I graduated from a school that’s kind of like the Harvard of Australia.”

SHAQUILLE O’NEAL

18

EDUCATION

Basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal earned his doctorate degree in education in 2012 from Barry University.

In an interview with ABC, the four-time NBA champion said there were three reasons for his return to school.

“One, I promised my parents I would [follow my passion for education]. 

“Two, I wanted to continue my education and three, I wanted to challenge myself,” he said.

WANDA SYKES

18

MARKETING

The hilarious Wanda Sykes did not originally pursue a career in stand-up comedy or acting.

In fact, she worked with the National Security Agency after graduating from Hampton University with a marketing degree in 1986.

Explaining how one goes from an NSA employee to an A-list celebrity, she told The Baltimore Sun: “I just really felt like I was wasting my time, government money, and taxpayers’ money working that job. 

“I was doing well and getting promoted. 

“But it was not fulfilling, I knew I should be doing something else.”

She continued: “I was just listening to radio, and they promoted a comedy talent show. 

“And I said: ‘I am going to do that.’”

And the rest, as they say, is history.

WILL FERRELL

18

SPORTS INFORMATION

Will Ferrell graduated from the University of Southern California in 1990 with a degree in sports information.

He delivered the speech at USC’s 134th commencement and joked that his degree was so useless that the program discontinued it a few years after he graduated.

USC awarded him an honorary degree in 2017.