Fact Check: No, former first lady Michelle Obama has not earned her Ph.D. in law
Corrections & clarifications: This story has been updated to reflect the degree and certificate that Obama earned from Princeton.
Claim: Former first lady Michelle Obama earned her Ph.D. in law since leaving the White House in 2016
Several Facebook posts congratulating former first lady Michelle Obama on a doctorate degree that she has not received have gone viral online.
“CONGRATULATIONS to Doctor Michelle Obama!!! Since her husband has been out of office, and her children out of the house, Mrs. Obama decided to complete her PHD in law. The most educated 1st lady ever, is a Black Queen! RESPECT,” Lady Gee posted on Facebook on June 27.
Her post quickly received hundreds of shares and dozens of comments congratulating Obama. One Facebook user questioned the validity of Gee’s claim.
“This isn’t true. She actually got an honorary doctorate from Jackson State University after delivering their commencement speech. But she’s still the most intelligent First Lady ever!” commented Lori Ehawee Gloster.
Other Facebook users posted similar versions of the misinformed claim.
“Former First Lady Michelle Obama. Since her husband has been out of office, and her children out of the house, Mrs. Obama decided to complete her PHD in law. The most educated 1st lady in the history of this nation. Congratulations Dr. Michelle Obama!!!” Christopher D. Handy posted to The Barack H. Obama Fan Club Facebook group on June 22.
Gee has not yet responded to Paste BN's request for comment.
Obama’s office has confirmed to The Associated Press and Lead Stories that this is not true.
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Obama holds a juris doctor-not a Ph.D.
Growing up Obama attended Chicago Public Schools. She later earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and a certificate in African American studies at Princeton University.
Obama has famously shared how a high school counselor’s comment that she was not “Princeton material” caused her to self-doubt and ultimately motivated her to pursue further education. After graduating from Princeton in 1985, she attended Harvard Law School and earned her juris doctor degree in 1988.
She then joined the Sidley & Austin law firm in Chicago, where she met her husband, Barack Obama. Several years later Obama left law to pursue community-based interests.
After her husband was elected president, Michelle Obama received multiple honorary degrees from universities where she gave commencement speeches, several of which were honorary doctorates: Oregon State University in 2012, Bowie State University in 2013, and Jackson State University in 2016.
Bowie State, in Maryland, gave Obama an honorary doctorate of law, but she has not completed that degree.
Busy since leaving the White House
In 2018, Obama wrote a memoir, “Becoming,” which has lasted 81 weeks on the New York Times Best Sellers List.
“Becoming” earned the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. In 2020, “Becoming” was released as a Netflix documentary, which followed Obama on her 34-city book tour.
But her time post-White House has not included earning an additional degree.
Our rating: False
We rate the claim that Michelle Obama has earned a doctorate in law FALSE because it is not supported by our research. Obama’s office has confirmed several times that she has not earned any new degrees since leaving the White House in 2016.
Our fact-check sources:
- Lady Gee's Facebook Post
- Christopher D. Handy's Facebook Post
- Associated Press "NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week"
- Lead Stories "Fact Check: Michelle Obama Did NOT Complete Her 'PhD In Law' Since Leaving The White House"
- WhiteHouse.gov "Michelle Obama"
- YouTube, "CBS This Morning"
- The Daily Princetonian "First lady Michelle Obama ’85 has rebuffed invitations from Princeton administration"
- Oregon State University "Synergies: First!"
- The Washington Post "Michelle Obama gives commencement address at Bowie State, challenges students to keep learning"
- Jackson State University "Michelle Obama, JD, PhD, ’16 Former First Lady of the United States"
- "Becoming"
- The New York Times Best Sellers List
- Paste BN "'Becoming': Barack and daughters illuminate Netflix's new Michelle Obama documentary"
- The Detroit News "Sasha Obama set to begin college career at University of Michigan"
- Paste BN "President Obama cried while dropping off Malia at Harvard: 'Like open-heart surgery'"
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