Did Carrie Underwood Graduate College? Inside Her Education After ‘American Idol’ Class Rank Reveal

Season 24 of American Idol has been promoted as “Idol University,” which prompted judges Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie to reminisce about their school days during the February 2 episode.

While Bryan admitted that he was “not in the running” to rank high in his high school graduating class, Richie revealed that he was “known as ‘Lionel who?'” because “they didn’t know I was in the class.”

However, Underwood seemingly had a much different experience, and shared that she was this close to being named her high school’s valedictorian. Scroll down for more about her educational history.

What was Carrie Underwood’s class rank?

Underwood ranked second in her class at Checotah High School in Oklahoma. “I was salutatorian,” she told Bryan and Richie. “But the only reason I wasn’t valedictorian is because two of the classes I needed were at the same time.”

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The country superstar recalled “talking to the counselor” and complaining, “This isn’t fair!” Luckily, it all worked out.

Did Carrie Underwood graduate from college?

Yes, Underwood graduated from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, in 2006. She was a college student when she competed on American Idol the previous year and was just three credits shy of graduating when she dropped out to pursue her dreams on the show.

Although Underwood never finished her official coursework for those three credits, NSU granted them to her due to her real-life experience on television during and after American Idol, which related to her college major (more on that below).

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“There was my internship right there!” Underwood told People after her May 2006 graduation, per The Boot. She graduated with the highest honors, magna cum laude.

During her time at school, Underwood was a member of the Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority and was named runner-up in the Miss NSU pageant in 2004.

What was Carrie Underwood’s college major?

Underwood’s college major was mass communications with an emphasis on journalism. She was pursuing a career in broadcast journalism, with dreams of being a television newscaster.

However, Underwood made it clear during a 2021 interview with SiriusXM that she would still be singing in some capacity, even if she had taken a different career path. “That’s what I love to do,” she explained. “For me, I feel like it was less about the lights and the TV stuff. I felt like it was more about being able to sing. I could do that anywhere, anytime.”

American Idol, Season 24, Mondays, 8/7c, ABC