Fame and a diploma don’t always arrive in the usual order. For some well-known names, the career took off first and the degree had to wait. A few of them went back years later, sometimes decades later, to finish what they’d started.
The stories below span athletes, actors, a filmmaker, a rapper and a talk show legend. Each one is built on details reported by outlets that have covered celebrity graduations.
Shaquille O’Neal
Shaquille O’Neal left LSU for the NBA before finishing his degree. He went back and earned his degree from LSU eight years after dropping out. That put his graduation in 2000, in the middle of his playing career.
He didn’t stop there. He later earned both an MBA and a doctorate. His doctorate came in 2012 from Barry University, with a focus on human resource development.
Stephen Curry
Stephen Curry left Davidson College early to enter the NBA draft. He said when he declared that he intended to finish his degree. Plenty of athletes say that. Fewer follow through.
He did. In 2022, more than a decade after leaving college early, it was announced that Curry had earned his degree. The Warriors marked it by noting he was a college grad 13 years after entering the NBA.
Steven Spielberg
It’s easy to forget that one of the most successful directors in film history didn’t have a bachelor’s degree for a very long time. He made classics like Schindler’s List and Raiders of the Lost Ark before earning his college degree. The gap was enormous by any standard.
More than three decades after leaving school, he returned to California State University, Long Beach, and finished his bachelor’s degree in film and electronic arts in 2002. That was nearly four decades after he first started.
America Ferrera
America Ferrera was a student at the University of Southern California when acting work pulled her away. She left to star in Ugly Betty. The show made her a household name.
A decade after first enrolling at USC, Ferrera finished her degree in international relations. By then she’d collected a Golden Globe, an Emmy and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and she graduated in 2012.
Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King’s college story runs on one of the longest timelines on this list. She started college in 1961 but left before finishing to pursue professional tennis. Her tennis career went on to define an era.
At 82 years old, King earned her college degree from Cal State LA. It’s a reminder that finishing a degree doesn’t come with an expiration date.
Megan Thee Stallion
Megan Thee Stallion kept studying while her music career was exploding. After her career picked up speed, she moved to Texas Southern’s online program in health administration to finish her degree. Online coursework made it possible to balance school with touring and recording.
She graduated from Texas Southern University in 2021 with a degree in health administration. Her path shows how flexible learning can fit around a busy public life.
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey studied at Tennessee State University before her broadcasting career took off. She left a credit short of graduating in 1975 for her growing career. She was already working in media, and the job was moving fast.
The degree came later. She finished it before giving the school’s commencement speech in 1987. The school’s invitation gave her a reason to complete the last piece of coursework.
Eva Longoria
Eva Longoria’s academic path looks a bit different, since she went back for a graduate degree. While doing Desperate Housewives, she worked on a master’s degree in Chicano studies at California State University. She wasn’t just taking classes on the side.
She attended classes in person for three years. The degree she received was a master’s in Chicano and Chicana Studies from California State University, Northridge.
