It is probably the truest fact of life that as long as a person keeps living, they keep on learning. Education as an interest is not as prevalent in the lives in many celebrities. It was of course necessary in its most basic levels, up until high school or even before that, but there are indeed celebrities who do believe in the importance of higher education and would even put their careers on hold in order to reach their Academia goals.
Most normal people usually finish school and thank their lucky stars once they graduate high school or college, but these celebrities went above and beyond to prove to themselves that life has so much more to learn about. Some of the celebs featured on this list have surprising majors and unknown escapades in the ever expansive world of post-grad studies, so without further ado, here's a list of celebrities who made sure they explored the world of higher education.
8 Bradley Cooper Always Wanted To Study Arts On A Bigger Scale
Bradley Cooper, box office domineer, and nine time Academy Award nominee has a long and successful career, but many fans may be oblivious to his academic achievements! The actor admits in this interview on Inside the Actors Studio that he was never sure he'd make a living acting, and that's why he majored in English at Georgetown University. However, his passion for learning the fine arts led him to pursue a Master's Degree in Fine Arts in a Graduate program at The University of New York’s The New School, and thus he made himself a bona fide scholar.
7 Ken Jeong Is An Actual Board-Certified Physician
Fans just adore a versatile and talented individual like Ken Jeong! Fans will be impressed to know that the hilarious comedian was always gifted in many ways before he ever became a multi millionaire. He graduated from high school when he was just 16 and then decided to enroll at Due University where he started his pre-med journey. The actor went on to earn a doctorate of medicine from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Just to make his feats sound even more impressive, Ken Jeong was pursuing comedy at the same time he was studying to get his P.H.D!
6 Lisa Kudrow Wanted To Be A Doctor, But She Became A Biologist
The friends superstar and hilarious comedienne has quite a few tricks up her sleeve! Lisa Kudrow graduated with a degree in biology from Vassar College. In this interview, she explains how she always wanted to be a doctor, but well, life takes you on wild unexpected turns sometimes. Kudrow is actually a published academic as group study she was part of was professionally published!
5 Eva Longoria Got Her Master's Degree at 38 Years Old
Eva Longoria is not only a well accomplished actress, but she is also an accomplished academic! Longoria already had a Bachelor's of Science degree for having studied Kinesiology at Texas A&M University-Kingsville long before she decided to pursue a Master's degree of Chicano Studies at Cal State University Northridge. Just another reason to love the actress!
4 Meryl Streep Earned Her Fine Arts Master's Degree From Yale
The legendary actress needs no introduction. Fans know if there's any impossible feet in this world, Meryl Streep has probably already done it. Streep had graduated from Vassar back in 1971 with a degree in drama and costume design. Streep did not end her journey there, though. She quickly enrolled as a Master's student where she studied Drama at Yale University and earned her academic degree in 1975.
3 Matthew McConaughey Is Now A Professor
Yep, fans were surprised to say the least when they knew that Matthew McConaughey is now a professor of practice at Moody College of Communication which is part of University of Texas—Austin. He currently teaches a course on advertising called "Script to Screen: Commercials." Prior to him teaching, the actor had graduated from the same university back in 1993 with Bachelor of Science in Radio-Television-Film.
2 James Franco Used To Teach, Before He Was Sued
James Franco used to teach Film and English classes in multiple universities including USC, University of Southern California, UCLA, NYU, and CalArts. Although he does have a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University, and used to be a Ph.D candidate, his degrees did not teach him that it was wrong to have intimate relationships with students. He was sued for sexual misconduct by multiple women who used to be his students, and the details are just abhorrent.
1 Mayim Bialik Is A Neuroscientist
Having played a Ph.D holder herself on the hit T.V show The Big Bang Theory, Mayim Bialik does actually hold a Ph.D in real life! To get her Bachelor's degree in neuroscience from University of California, Los Angeles, she took a break from acting only to return to star in one of the biggest shows on television ever. She earned her doctoral degree from the same university, and fans couldn't be more proud.
