Taylor Swift is one of the most beloved pop stars of our generation with some of the most loyal fans or "Swfities" as they are proudly known, out of any A-list celebrity. But away from the limelight, did the star ever attend college?
You may have seen photos of the blonde-haired beauty posing in a cap and gown last May whilst appearing at a very special ceremony at one of America's most prestigious universities, NYU. During the appearance, Taylor gave an impressive commencement speech and received her own honorary doctorate degree in Fine Art.
Keep scrolling to find out if the country star ever received a college education…
Did Taylor attend college?
Despite her well-publicized graduation speech in honor of the renowned campus, Taylor has never actually attended classes at the university. She shot to fame at the tender age of 15 so a college education wasn't on the cards for her but nevertheless, she was thrilled to be honored with the accolade. In her commencement speech, the star talked about her education, explaining: "I never got to have the normal college experience, per se. I went to public high school until tenth grade and finished my education doing homeschool work on the floors of airport terminals.
"Then I went out on the road on a radio tour, which sounds incredibly glamorous but in reality, it consisted of a rental car, motels, and my mom and I pretending to have loud mother-daughter fights with each other during boarding so no one would want the empty seat between us on Southwest."
Why did Taylor get a doctorate degree?
Sometimes Universities will award an honorary degree to those who make a significant contribution to a specific field. Justin Timberlake, Meryl Streep, Kanye West, and Celine Dion are just a few examples of other stars who have received an honorary doctorate, meaning that they wave the official requirements of the qualification.
In Taylor's case, NYU has had a steeped interest in the Trouble singer for a while. According to Women's Health, the school’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music launched a course specifically studying Taylor’s business and writing practices last January. It also looked at how fandom, gender, and race come together in the music industry.
The official press release also detailed why Taylor was the recipient of such an honor. It read: "An 11-time Grammy winner, Ms. Swift is one of the most prolific and celebrated artists of her generation. She is the only female artist in history to win the music industry’s highest honor, the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, three times.
"Her many awards and distinctions include being the most awarded artist ever in American Music Awards’ history along with being named Artist of the Decade; winner of the BRIT Awards International Female Solo Artist of the Year in 2015 and the Global Icon Award in 2021; and Billboard's first-ever and only two-time winner of the Woman of the Decade Award. She is the only solo artist this century to have three albums reach No. 1 in one year."
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