Sarah Palin's Extensive College Career

Sarah Palin cares about education—which makes total sense since she went to at least four different colleges over the course of six years before getting a degree from the University of Idaho in 1987, the Associated Press reports.

Palin's collegiate career began in the one state younger than Alaska, where she attended Hawaii Pacific University in the business administration program. She started in the fall of 1982. Next she headed to North Idaho College, a two-year institution, where she was a general studies major for two more semesters, spring and fall of 1983. Although she never received a degree there, she received the school's Distinguished Alumni of the Year Award this past June.

In the fall of 1984, she transferred to the University of Idaho, where she majored in journalism with an emphasis in broadcast news. She stayed until the spring 1985.

The next fall, Palin headed back to Alaska to attend Matanuska-Susitna College, just 14 miles from her hometown, Wasilla.

After one semester, she returned to the University of Idaho, which she attended for three more semesters—spring 1986, fall 1986, and spring 1987. She (at last!) graduated with a degree in journalism. After her roundabout tour of higher education, she worked a short stint as a sportscaster at a station in Anchorage, reporting on the Iditarod and Detroit Pistons basketball. Check out the video.

There are also some reports that she attended the University of Hawaii at Hilo for a couple of weeks just after her high school graduation, but there seems to be no record of her enrollment.