celebrity college majors

celebrity college majors

Celebrity college majors. Onscreen, Legally Blonde's Reese Witherspoon is a Harvard-educated lawyer. Offscreen? She's a college dropout.

In most professions, that might be a problem. But life is different in Tinseltown. Of the 20 best-paid actors and actresses on our Most Powerful Celebrities list, who collectively raked in $529 million over the course of the year, only two--Adam Sandler and Cate Blanchett--have a college degree. Witherspoon? She earned $7 million last year.

But for non-actors on our list, it's a different story. For these authors, directors and talking heads, a college education proves far more common. For these folks, communications, broadcasting and psychology have been among the more popular majors. Among the high-profile grads: Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg and Donald Trump hold degrees in speech, film and economics, respectively.

Oprah Winfrey

Talking Head
$260 million
Tennessee State University
Major: Speech and Drama
Graduated: Yes

Jerry Bruckheimer

Director
$120 million
University of Arizona
Major: Psychology
Graduated: Yes

Steven Spielberg

Director
$110 million
California State University at Long Beach
Major: Film and Electronic Arts
Graduated: Yes (Completed in 2001)

Tiger Woods

Athlete
$100 million
Stanford University
Major: Economics
Graduated: No

Tom Hanks

Actor
$74 million
California State University in Sacramento
Major: Theater
Graduated: No

Madonna

Musician
$72 million
University of Michigan
Major: Modern dance
Graduated: No

Howard Stern

Talking Head
$70 million
Boston University
Major: Communications

Jerry Seinfeld

Comedian
$60 million
Queens College
Major: Theater and Communications
Graduated: Yes

David Letterman

Talk Show Host
$40 million
Ball State University
Major: Broadcasting
Graduated: Yes

Ben Stiller

Actor
$38 million
UCLA
Major: Film
Graduated: No

Gore Verbinski

Director/Producer
$37 million
UCLA Film School
Major: Motion pictures and TV
Graduated: Yes

Brad Pitt

Actor
$35 million
University of Missouri
Major: Journalism
Graduated: No

Donald Trump

Personality
$32 million
University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Finance
Major: Economics
Graduated: Yes

Shaquille O'Neal

Athlete
$32 million
Louisiana State University
Major: General Studies
Graduated: Yes (completed in 2000)

Jay Leno

Talk Show Host
$32 million
Emerson College
Major: Speech therapy
Graduated: Yes

Michael Jordan

Athlete
$31 million
University of North Carolina
Major: Geography
Graduated: Yes

Dr. Phil McGraw

Talking Head
$30 million
Midwestern State University
Major: Psychology
Graduated: Yes

Adam Sandler

Actor
$30 million
New York University
Major: Master in Fine Arts
Graduated: Yes

Read more: forbes