10 celebrities who studied online

6. Shaquille O’Neal

Dropping out of Louisiana State in his junior year but promising his mother to one day return, in order to play in the NBA, Shaq quickly become one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Keeping his promise, O’Neal obtained his BA through distance learning courses at LSU in 2000, went on to earn an MBA through online courses at the University of Phoenix in 2005 and most recently received a PhD in Leadership and Education at Barry University.

After obtaining his online MBA degree, O’Neal stated “Sports for me has always been, you know, fairy tale life. And this right here is real life. This right here means more.” The NBA star has also stated that “It’s just something to have on my resume when I go back to reality. Someday I may have to put down the basketball and get a regular job like everyone else.”

7. Shannen Doherty

90210 and Charmed star, Shannen Doherty is currently pursuing a Liberal Arts degree through online learning and is the latest spokesperson for the college-matching site Education Connection. Doherty states on one of the EC advertisements that “Earning my degree online lets me study anywhere anytime, it’s like the world is slowing down so I can make better use of my day.”

8. Jerry Hall

Model and actress, Jerry Hall is pursuing a University degree at the age of 45 to help convince her 4 children by Mick Jagger that education is more important than fame. Hall is currently studying to obtain a BA in Humanities with Open University. “I decided to study for a degree because I thought it would inspire my children to go to university and set a good example.”

9. Venus Williams

After the launch of her own merchandising empire, clothing designer and tennis star, Venus Williams undertook a BS in Business Administration through an online course offered by Indiana University-East. According to the schools Director of Communications and Marketing, John Oak Dalton, “We had a lot of concerns about her privacy, but she’s actually the one who has made the overtures. She tweeted today ‘Go Red Wolves’ from her official Twitter, which was good because a lot of people thought we were making it up.  A lot of people thought we just had someone else named Venus Williams that went to school here.”

10. Hilary Duff

Actress, singer-songwriter and model, Hilary Duff is best known for her lead role as Disney’s Lizzie McGuire. She took online courses from her home in Los Angeles at Harvard University’s extension school, along with famous sister and oftentimes co-star Haylie Duff. Hilary Duff thought online learning was so great, she gushed about it on her blog stating “I’m taking on-line classes for Harvard University. Really cool! I am really excited about going back to school and the on-line classes are really cool!”