15 Celebs Who Graduated With Rare and Hard To Get Degrees

With so many A-list names showcasing their talents in their respective fields, it is hard to believe that some celebrities made time to attend university.

Not only did they go on to study at well-regarded institutions, but they also decided to try something new while enrolled in their courses.

From The Rock to Bridget Medler, the list below includes several Hollywood names who have graduated with degrees that are either hard-to-get or simply unconventional.

Brooke Shields

From The Blue Lagoon to, most recently, Mother of the Bride, Brooke Shields has remained under the spotlight since infancy as both an actress and a model.

How impressive, then, that she found time to graduate from a prestigious institution like Princeton University, which she dreamed of attending. The actress studied Romance Languages and graduated with honors.

Natalie Portman

Much like Brooke Shields, Natalie Portman started her onscreen career early but also managed to get a degree from a revered institution. While working on the Star Wars trilogy, the actress graduated from Harvard in 2003.

She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, which likely benefited her filmography when it came to getting in character. Throughout her journey as a Hollywood name, she has tackled a wide range of roles, including her Oscar-winning performance in Black Swan.

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson

The Rock might’ve risen to prominence due to his acting credits in franchises like Fast and Furious and Jumanji, but before this, he was on the way to becoming an accomplished football player.

His talent in the sport led him to receive scholarships from Penn State and UCLA but ended up accepting a full-ride offer from the University of Miami. Yet, his college football dream was cut short due to an injury on his shoulder. Despite this fact, he did graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminology and Physiology in 1995.

Ken Jeong

Known for being a hilarious comedian and actor, it is surprising to think that Ken Jeong could be in an entirely different field if he so wished.

He is a doctor, having pursued medicine at Duke University right after high school. Jeong completed his MD at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and later did his residency in New Orleans. It was during his time working at a hospital that he began to do a few stand-up shows on the side and then went on to acting.

Bridget Mendler

Disney Channel launched Bridget Medler’s acting and music careers in productions like Good Luck, Charlie and Lemonade Mouth. However, instead of remaining in the spotlight, she shifted gears later on and is now probably the most academically accomplished Disney alum.

Before becoming the CEO of Northwood Space, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from USC in 2016 and a Master’s from MIT. In May of this year, Medler also graduated from Harvard Law School and earned a doctorate from MIT simultaneously.

Brian May

On top of being a guitarist for one of rock’s greatest bands, Queen, Brian May also holds a rare degree up his sleeve.

The British guitar player has a doctorate from Imperial College in London, which makes him a certified astrophysicist. It took May over 30 years to get his PhD, which he finally received in 2007. He is making good use of his degree by authoring stereoscopic images for NASA.

Rebel Wilson

Before Pitch Perfect skyrocketed Rebel Wilson’s name into Hollywood, she attended a prestigious higher education institution in Australia, garnering a double degree in Law and Arts.

She officially graduated from the University of New South Wales in 2009, years before her comedy break in Bridesmaids. Wilson has since received a UNSW Alumni Award for her success post-studies.

Rooney Mara

Two-time Academy Award-nominee Rooney Mara has delivered multiple worthwhile performances in films like Carol and Women Talking. Her onscreen talent is already so impressive that it is even more surprising to know that she holds a unique degree in her resume.

She initially went to George Washington University but ended up transferring to New York University, where she finished her studies in 2010. Mara earned a degree in International Social Policy, Psychology, and Nonprofits.

Freddie Highmore

A child star who has grown to become an acclaimed actor, Freddie Highmore has wide-ranging roles from a serial killer in Bates Motel to a doctor under the autism spectrum in The Good Doctor.

Given that Highmore has remained onscreen for most of his life, it may be an unknown fact for many that he did go to university. He has a double degree in Spanish and Arabic from Cambridge University’s Emmanuel College.

Gerard Butler

Underneath the action chops lies an intellectual at heart. Gerard Butler, known for his acting credits in 300 and The Bounty Hunter, is not only an actor but also a certified lawyer.

He has a degree from the University of Glasgow and even worked at a firm for a short amount of time before noticing that he preferred being onscreen instead.

Mayim Bialik

Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik pulled off double duty in the late ’90s and early 2000s, doing voice work in animated series (like Johnny Bravo and Kim Possible) and studying for exams.

She eventually graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience, specializing in obsessive-compulsive disorder and Prader-Willi Syndrome. Bialik then went on to get a doctorate in the same field and from the same institution in 2007.

Cole Sprouse

From starring alongside his twin brother in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody to then becoming one of the leads in Riverdale, Cole Sprouse has been hard at work since he was a baby. Despite the tight schedule, he managed to squeeze in a few classes here and there and complete higher education.

The actor revealed that he has a degree from NYU in a field that is far from what people would assume. He studied Archeology, with an emphasis on Geographical Information Systems and Satellite Imaging.

Christy Turlington

Fashion model Christy Turlington has the looks and the brains. After deciding to end her time on the runway in the late ’90s, she pursued dual bachelor’s degrees in Eastern philosophy and comparative religion at NYU.

Upon graduating in 1999, she then went on to do her Masters in Public Health at Columbia University.

Issa Rae

This Barbie might be an actress, a writer, and a producer, but before getting into the limelight with Insecure, she was a student at Stanford University.

In 2007 she finished off her Bachelor’s degree in African American studies and a earned a minor in Political Science. Her education transpires in a lot of her onscreen work, bringing more Black stories to TV and film that deeply resonates with audiences.

Eva Longoria

Desperate Housewives alum Eva Longoria has an impressive academic record that few might know about, in addition to her work in front of the cameras.

Before her rise to fame, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from Texas A&M University. She then kept her head in the books while acting as Gabrielle Solano, receiving a Master’s degree in Chicano Studies (a program focused on the Chicano movement of the late 1960s and 1970s) in 2013.