Sam Elliott

We have to admit that when we think about well-coiffed mustaches, we often imagine the actor Sam Elliott. He’s pretty well-respected in Hollywood today thanks to some of the memorable films and television shows he’s been involved with, including Conagher, Gunsmoke, and Buffalo Girls.

 Elliott’s biggest inspiration–and who he can say was the man behind his success–was his father who pushed him to get a degree. His father believed that education is a major factor for success and he couldn’t be more right about it. Elliott first studied at the University of Oregon but dropped out after a couple of semesters. It’s a good thing that he managed to bounce back and finish a two-year degree in acting, which became his stepping stone towards a huge career in Hollywood.

Michael Jordan

The greatest NBA player of all time is also one of the wealthiest athletes in the world today, and of course, we’re talking about Michael Jordan. He’s responsible for making basketball a major thing during the ‘90s thanks to the two three-peats he accomplished during his time with the Chicago Bulls. However, even before he became a professional athlete, he’s already been making a name for himself as one of the standouts of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

He was an accomplished player during his college days and he saved money by not having to pay student loans along the way because he got himself a scholarship from the athletics team. It seemed to be the right move for them since Jordan placed them at the center of the basketball world during his college days.

Samuel L. Jackson

Over the years, Samuel L. Jackson has given us a huge selection of wonderful films such as Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, and Goodfellas. We can clearly see that he was a part of some of the most famous films in history. Aside from that, he also has more than 150 film credits to his name, which he’s managed to achieve over the course of his career–and that says a lot when it comes to his acting prowess.

He was truly able to achieve a lot, considering that he initially planned to study marine biology and only had a couple of acting experiences under his belt. He attended Morehouse College, focused on his on-stage acting career, and the rest, as they say, is history.

James Franco

James Franco is another actor that proved that getting proper education is never too late. He’s known for playing Harry Osborn, Norman Osborn’s son who became the Green Goblin in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man film series. He also appeared in Milk,  Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and The Disaster Artist (for which he won a Golden Globe for Best Actor).

In 2006, Franco enrolled in UCLA as an English major student. He successfully got his undergraduate degree in 2008 and later hired a moving company to bring his stuff over to New York where he further studied the art of writing. Franco attended Columbia University School of the Arts, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and Brooklyn College for fiction writing simultaneously. Now that’s one way to get a degree in College!

Shaquille O’Neal

From the get-go, Shaq was considered one of the most gifted athletic big men that ever played in the NBA. During the 2000s, he dominated the hardwood with his sheer strength and superhuman-like basketball abilities. However, the cost of all that would be his dream of getting a diploma since he left early just to get into the pros.

Education is really important to Shaquille O’Neal and his family and that’s why he pursued his college degree after retiring from the game of basketball. He truly lived up to the promise he made to his mother back then when he mentioned that he would get a college degree one way or the other. In 2005, he also got his MBA and pursued a doctorate at Barry University.

Susan Boyle

Susan Boyle is one of the most memorable contestants of the third season of Britain’s Got Talent. She put a smile on everyone’s face with her stunning performance of I Dreamed a Dream. Her performance, of course, became her ticket to fame and stardom. She has incredible singing skills, and many think that she’s had proper voice training–but apparently, she’s had none of that. Boyle only took short vocal courses here and there and was pretty much self-taught for the most part.

Because of her condition, she wasn’t able to finish her college degree and only took part in a couple of government educational programs. It’s a good thing that she managed to grab an honorary degree in honor of all the contributions she gave to the music industry.

Emma Watson

Emma Watson is one of the most popular actresses in the entertainment industry today and a huge part of that is because of her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film franchise. Many people assumed that she had a bunch of acting credits under her name at the time only to find out that she only appeared in school plays and had never received any formal acting training before accepting the role in the famous film franchise.

Her success in the acting industry continued and she even jumped to modeling a few times. However, having a college degree was really important for her and her family so Watson managed her time wisely. She continued working as an actress and model while studying English literature at Brown University. Her efforts paid off as she managed to get her bachelor’s degree in 2014.

Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman is one of those people that put education above all, even at the cost of their acting career. An excellent choice if you ask us and all her efforts and perseverance paid off after graduating from Harvard in 2003 and attaining a psychology degree.

What’s amazing is that she managed to handle both her studies and her acting duties at the same time without compromising the quality of her work in both. That earned her a lot of respect not only from her peers but from her fans as well. She is truly a role model for people when it comes to education. After finishing her studies, she put all her effort once again into acting and she’s now considered one of the best actresses in the industry.

Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart, a writer, television personality, and businesswoman, is also known as one of the most successful women in Hollywood. She has a diverse investment portfolio through her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Her company specializes in broadcasting, merchandising, and other ecommerce stuff. She did all of that at the same time she was doing the TV program Martha Stewart Living, which aired between 1993 and 2004, as well as Martha, which aired from 2005 to 2012.

With her impressive network of businesses and her impressive career in the entertainment industry, she truly reached a lot of people. She’s really come a long way since her college days at Barnard College of Columbia University. She even reportedly had to do part-time modeling gigs just to sustain her studies. All her efforts paid off and she managed to acquire a double major in history and architectural history.

Lisa Kudrow

Lisa Kudrow, who’s a comedian, actress, and singer, came from a family of doctors. After all, her father was a physician and she also wanted to pursue the same career as her father’s. With that in mind, she did her best to get a college degree that would prepare her to follow in her father’s footsteps. She got herself a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Vassar College in New York.

She seemed to be right in line with her father’s work but her talent in acting always caught up with her. While doing medical and research work for her father’s team, she was also doing acting jobs at the side, and she made doing both look easy. In fact, she managed to grab a couple of merits for her acting jobs.