Does Palin have a college degree?

[Boudica the Lyoness]

Our Washington State voters' pamphlet Edition 9 arrived yesterday.
I was reading the bios and this is what was written for the four candidates education:

Barack Obama. Education: Graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law School where he was elected President of the Harvard Law Review by his fellow students.

Joe Biden. Education: Graduated from the University of Delaware and Syracuse University Law School.

John McCain. Education: Graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.

Sarah Palin. Education: The University of Idaho.

I was just wondering why hers was the only bio that didn't include the word Graduate.

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. She did finally manage to squeeze out a BS in Journalism from her fifth college.

It is strange that the word "graduated" is omitted from her bio. I don't know what college she actually ended up graduating from, though. Maybe it wasn't University of Idaho. Perhaps that was the closest to a legitimate college she ever managed.

According to Wikipedia:

Palin attended several colleges and universities. In 1982, she enrolled at Hawaii Pacific College but left after her first semester. She transferred to North Idaho community college, where she spent two semesters as a general studies major. From there, she transferred to the University of Idaho for two semesters.<10><11> During this time Palin won the Miss Wasilla Pageant,<12><13> then finished third in the 1984 Miss Alaska pageant,<14><15> at which she won a college scholarship and the "Miss Congeniality" award.<16> She then attended the Matanuska-Susitna community college in Alaska for one term. The next year she returned to the University of Idaho where she spent three semesters completing her Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journalism, graduating in 1987.<10><11>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin#Early_life_and_education

[yardwork]

3. Maybe she never earned a degree.

[Jack from Charlotte]

11. I've asked before if anyone knows if she's ever had to show she graduated....

Most people who work for a large company get checked out on such background things. Has she? Of course since she doesn't do interviews she can't be asked. But when she gets back to Moose-oh-lini someone needs to ask her.

[yardwork]

22. She was a sportscaster for a short time. No other employer that I know about.

She was in beauty pageants, she was a sportscaster, and she was elected mayor and governor. As far as I know, none of those jobs require a college degree. Maybe she never earned one.

[jljamison]

2. thats a good one

I don't think McCain got his degree contemplating his belly. Its "Naval Academy" :-)

[Boudica the Lyoness]

7. I stand corrected.

What was I thinking. :)

[crossroads]

25. LOL... Welcome to DU!

[lonestarnot]

39. Tee hee.

:D I think the bottom of the heap dude would have been better off contemplating his belly button.

[rcrush]

4. 5 colleges 5 years and she got a journalism degree. n/t

[JFN1]

5. I'll bet she "graduated" from here

https://www.wgu.edu/

[kestrel91316]

6. I've never seen a copy of Palin's diploma. I'm not convinced she got one.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

9. I wouldn't be surprised if she did graduate.

We have a congresswoman here called Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who is very much like Palin, she used to say she was born and raised on her family's orchard in our district. Turns out she was raised in Northern BC Canada and didn't move to the 7 acre rented orchard till she was a jr in high school.
Don't ever trust these right wing Christan's to tell the truth about anything.

[TriMetFan]

8. Here is the educational Background of all of them.

Educational Background:
Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in
International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude
Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899
Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

[Boudica the Lyoness]

13. Has anybody called the U of I?

I don't believe a word they say.
We also had a Republican County Commissioner here who claimed he got an engineering degree from Eastern Washington University. My husband had known him for years (all his life) and knew for a fact he'd been fired from a company when it was discovered he'd never even attended college. But it didn't stop him from pretending to be in an engineer in his bio when he ran for office.

[Jamastiene]

10. That second question sounds like a question for your SBOE

or whoever published the Washington State voters' pamphlet Edition 9.

The answer to the first question:
Yes, she graduated from college. Sarah Palin earned a Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journalism in 1987 from the University of Idaho.

She had to earn her own money for college and that took time. She eventually won a scholarship by winning the Miss Alaska beauty pageant in 1984.

She did graduate though. She went through so many schools, a semester here and a semester there, while trying to get the money to finish college, that she graduated way later than the standard 4 years for a Bachelor's Degree. That is standard for many of us in small towns in the middle of bumfukt nowhere with little opportunity and lots of poverty.

I normally do no quote wiki, but this is sourced information about her education:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin#Early_life_and_education

"Palin attended several colleges and universities. In 1982, she enrolled at Hawaii Pacific College but left after her first semester. She transferred to North Idaho community college, where she spent two semesters as a general studies major. From there, she transferred to the University of Idaho for two semesters.<10><11> During this time Palin won the Miss Wasilla Pageant,<12><13> then finished third in the 1984 Miss Alaska pageant,<14><15> at which she won a college scholarship and the "Miss Congeniality" award.<16> She then attended the Matanuska-Susitna community college in Alaska for one term. The next year she returned to the University of Idaho where she spent three semesters completing her Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journalism, graduating in 1987."

Google is your friend.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

15. wikipedia is not correct.

I know how to use Google!

The wikipedia that you count on to tell you the truth also has Cathy McMorris Rodgers information incorrect. I don't think the folks at Wikipedia called the U of I and got a copy of her degree. They are just going by what the candidate told them. Like you do.

Also I live a mile outside of a town with a population under 1000 and it's populated by mostly retired rich farmers. No all small towns are poverty stricken. The nearest 'big' town to us is 50 niles away and has a population of 18,000. The nearest city that has an airport, hospitals etc is 80 miles away. So don't try to tell me about small towns.

[Essene]

20. um... that's not how wikipedia works... the source was AP... who clearly fact checked

Wiki cites 2 articles, both from AP.

And last time i checked, AP generally fact checks simple stuff like "graduated from idaho with a BA in journalism."

http://www.adn.com/palin/story/516085.html
http://www.localnews8.com/global/story.asp?s=8923484

AP clearly talked to school officials as the source. 4 universities over about 5 years, culminating in a BA in journalism from Univ of Idaho.

This is a photo of her at Idaho...

[yardwork]

24. The AP has been taken over by extremist right-wingers and they often fail to fact check.

It doesn't matter to me one way or the other, but there's no reason to just assume that Palin is telling the truth about this or that anybody in the media has ever really checked.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

27. Well that picture has me convinced, lol.

How can shit like this be fact checked? This is copied from Wikipedia.

"Cathy McMorris Rodgers was born and raised on a farm. She worked in the family owned and operated business, the Peachcrest Fruit Basket Orchard and Fruit Stand, in Kettle Falls, WA for 13 years. <2> She is the descendant of pioneers who traveled the Oregon Trail in the early 1850s to the Pacific Northwest where her father's family pursued agriculture and her mother's family worked in the forestry industry".<2>

Sure, she's changed it since her first run in 2004 for congress. It used to say she was born and raised on the orchard in question. There is no mention on Wikipedia that McMorris was in fact raised in Canada till she was a jr in high school. I unearthed the truth in 2004, called the Spokesman Review in Spokane Washington, who then asked her where she was from and was finally told the truth. It earned me a death threat and that's why it bothers me still. Up and till then she'd made a very pleasant bio for herself as the all American girl growing up on an Orchard over looking a river in Kettle Falls, WA. I notice that there are many bio's for her out there still, written very recently, that are the old 'born and raised on the family farm' version. Newspapers are just lazy in their research.

I guess I've been at this so long and seen so many mistakes made made the AP that I just don't trust them like I would University officials.

[Jamastiene]

33. Yes, and the original source was the Anchorage Daily News,

which is a newspaper.

The University of Idaho also cites her as alumni for what that's worth.
http://www.uidaho.edu/features/alumni/sarahpalin.aspx

Like I said, I do not normally quote Wiki, but the sources were cited. I sure didn't mean to start world war 3 by simply answering a question.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[izzie]

17. I did about the same as I quit collage and got married so then it was

all up to me. I painted my way and did it from 2 colleges. Well I had 5 children and it was not easy to work and do college and 5 kids plus a husband that made you jump road blocks every day to do it. This I understand about her. I also think Obama went to another college before he moved on to NYC.

[Jamastiene]

30. It is very tough juggling household/family responsibilities and

trying to get an education at the same time. I commend you for the perseverance it takes to do such a thing. I'm going through it right now myself. I'm taking care of a quadriplegic aunt and going to college and running the household. I have no kids, but the aunt keeps me pretty busy.

Congrats on making it through with so many responsibilities. That sounds like it was a very tough schedule. :hi:

[izzie]

18. I did about the same as I quit collage and got married so then it was

all up to me. I painted my way and did it from 2 colleges. Well I had 5 children and it was not easy to work and do college and 5 kids plus a husband that made you jump road blocks every day to do it. This I understand about her. I also think Obama went to another college before he moved on to NYC.

[CTyankee]

31. I did the same thing. I went to 4 colleges total, graduating from the last one.

I finished up at college #4 at age 57, after completing 2 years of its Accelerated Degree Program, designed for people like me. I liked the school so much that one year after finishing the B.A. I enrolled in their Masters in Liberal Studies (MALS) degree program and finished at a leisurely pace 4 1/2 years later. It was one of the happiest times of my life! My grandkids were at my graduation.

[izzie]

36. I like that. I wish I had a Masters.

I will say it was easier when my father was paying for it but I was silly and left college. I did go back and finish my BFA and did it on my own money I earned. My husband had the balls to tell people he did help as he feed me while I did it. I frankly would not have said that to people as they thought he was crazy. If a women with 5 children wanted to finish college why not help her when you made over 100,000 a year?(25 years ago) Funny part of it is I could not get a loan as my husband made to much money. He was also not for women working so I had to jump his road blocks with part time jobs after I got out. It was really crazy. I am not sure why I put up with it all for so long. I really liked college the second time around. I have a great love of history

[CTyankee]

37. Grad school was a joy. I didn't really "need" a Masters and this was really just enrichment.

But I got tuition reimbursement of one half of each course's cost from my employer.

I found a new joy in art and art history and designed my own independent study around the painter Caravaggio. I also had a wonderful Writer's Workshop course that really tapped my creativity. I had courses on transcendance in literature and Mysticism (and discovered Rumi as a result!). Another was on the period just after the establishment of the new American Republic. It was all a wholistic view of the Humanities. If you get a chance, I urge you to check out this kind of program. Lots of schools offer MALS degrees...

[izzie]

45. I maybe to poor and to old now but I still am a reader

I seem to be into Europe before the world war and what happened to all those ruling families. Very interesting. It is almost like they ran the whole world into the ground to hold on to that power. Power has to be more important than anything else to my way of thinking about these people. One you feel it I think they would do any thing to keep it. It is like a drug. I do not see them as much different than people to day who have power and do not want to give it up. It is a wonder we, in the USA, have changed people at the top so well. My BFA is in art and sociology as a minor.

[izzie]

46. This is a PS on the note

I think the country changed so easy, every 4 years, because we were so alike but now the endless fighting comes from how the country has changed from an all white power elite to the mix we have and I am happy to see. Just as in Europe, and the royals who did not want to give up power, and the churches that helped them keep power, we are more of less in the same spot.

[yardwork]

23. Sarah Palin lies constantly. How do we know she's telling the truth about this?

It doesn't matter to me one way or the other, but I wouldn't be surprised if she never got her degree. She would not be the first person to claim a degree she didn't earn.

[jillan]

12. I think we should demand to see her degree -

and she better not show us a photoshopped one!!!!1!!!!1 :P

[TriMetFan]

14. I'm with you on that.

:rofl:

[Essene]

19. i highly doubt there's any scandal there...

[4lbs]

21. She can always go here...

http://www.affordabledegrees.com/?source=Adwords-US&kw=Diploma%20mill





:D

[Essene]

16. yes, see palin-factsheet.blogspot.com

she hopped around 4 universities and eventually got a BA in journalism.

she spent 4 years as a sportscaster before getting into politics in wasilla (2 term city councilwoman)

[BlooInBloo]

26. If you call a journalism major from the University of Idaho a "degree".

[rcrush]

32. Is a college degree required to be VP?

[TexasObserver]

35. Yes. Haven't you read The Federalist Papers?

[seabeyond]

38. i would like someone possibly pres to be educated, yes. i dont buy into the "dumb" is a desirable

quality. i never have. i especially dont after 8 yrs of bush.

just thinkin.... education a plus.

go figure

[Poseidan]

41. without education, we'd still be living like monkeys

These days, you shouldn't need a formal education. You can use the internet to educate yourself better than most/all colleges can. Colleges fill you up with tons of crap strangers deem important. With the internet, you can focus solely on what is specifically determined useful by you. Super-highway of self-education, and it's a hell of a lot cheaper.

[seabeyond]

42. again, after bush of 8 yrs i want the very brightest and highest grades

i am not talking about you and me sittin at a table in discussion, .... i am talking world leader here and i want the credentials. i want the person that was willing to dedicate him/herself to study.

i was one that easily got thru without study. have read and self educated all my life. i am fine with my iq. i dont want me as pres.

[TexasObserver]

34. She graduated from the University of You Betcha, with a degree in I'll Get Back to Ya.

[lonestarnot]

40. Hugh ugh, that was The Barbie University of Spend it majoring in You Betcha and minoring in I'll Get

Back to Ya. A job was created by Winky Dinky's makeup bag. Someone has to carry it.

[PfcHammer]

43. She's a bonehead...

More Excerpts from the Palins' Interview With PEOPLE

Tina Fey got you locked up. Who would play Todd?

Sarah: Tim McGraw. That's what they say back home anyway.

...

Tina Fey plays you sort of bubble-headed...

Sarah: "That's funny. I play her bubble-headed too when I imitate her.

...but you don't get to be governor without being smart. Do you think you're intellectual?

Sarah: Yehhh-sss. And you have to be up on not only current events, but you have to understand the foundation of the issues that you're working on...You can't just go on what is presented you.

How do you get that knowledge?

Sarah: I'm a voracious reader, always have been. I appreciate a lot of information. I think that comes from growing up in a family of school teachers.

What do you like to read?

Sarah: Autobiographies, historical pieces -- really anything and everything. Besides the kids and sports, reading is my favorite thing to do.

[Johonny]

44. so the question is

why does the only one with a journalism degree do so bad around reporters and have a terribly written bio?

[GalleryGod]

47. " In A Manner of Speaking"

:wtf: In other words..."Here! Git out!":spank:

[Chloroplast]

48. Did she get a 'BA' or a 'BS' in Journalism?

What bothers me is that there are so-called reputable news agencies that have all fact checked this information and none of it corresponds. If she DID graduate from U of I with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Political Science, I wonder about the school in general. EVERY political science major or minor has to take an intro class to American Government; it's boring because it's a repeat of everything you'd have learned since 3rd grade but it's required. Sarah Palin must have skipped every class that semester because I can't believe how ignorant she is about the basics.