Olivia Rodrigo Wants to Go Back to School: The Pop Star's College Dream and What It Says About Fame in 2026

The Pop Star Who Never Went to College

Olivia Rodrigo has three Grammy Awards, seven Billboard Music Awards, and a place in chart history as the first artist to send each lead single from her first three albums straight to the top of the US Billboard Hot 100. What she doesn't have is a college degree — and according to new comments reported by ABS-CBN, she hasn't closed the door on getting one.

The Filipino American singer-songwriter is still weighing whether to pursue a full traditional degree or simply enroll in a few courses down the line. It's a surprisingly ordinary ambition for someone who has spent the past five years at the center of pop's biggest conversation — and it says a lot about how Rodrigo, still only in her early twenties, thinks about the long game.

From Disney Sets to Sold-Out Arenas

Rodrigo's path to pop stardom was never a straight line through campus. Born in 2003 in Murrieta, California, to a schoolteacher mother and a family therapist father, she grew up in nearby Temecula listening to her parents' favorite alternative rock bands — No Doubt, Pearl Jam, the White Stripes, Green Day — and taking vocal lessons from the age of five. By nine she was studying piano; by twelve she was playing guitar and writing songs.

Acting came first. She appeared in an Old Navy commercial at seven, took the lead role in the direct-to-video film An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success in 2015, and then moved to Los Angeles after landing a role on the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark. From there came the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. She was homeschooled during those years — which is part of why the idea of a real classroom still holds some appeal.

A Career That Rewrote the Record Books

Rodrigo signed with Geffen Records in 2020 and released her debut album, Sour, in 2021. It topped the Billboard 200 and nine other charts worldwide, powered by "Drivers License" and "Good 4 U." A documentary, Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U, followed in 2022. Her second album, Guts, arrived in 2023 with the chart-topping "Vampire," and her third, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, delivered another number-one lead single in "Drop Dead."

That run made her the first artist ever to have the lead single from each of their first three albums debut at the summit of the Hot 100. She was named Time's Entertainer of the Year in 2021, Billboard's Woman of the Year in 2022, and ASCAP's Pop Music Songwriter of the Year in both 2022 and 2024. She has also spoken candidly about being born half-deaf in her left ear.

Why a Degree Still Matters to Her

The college question isn't new for Rodrigo — she has talked before about what she gave up to chase music and acting as a teenager. What's notable now is that she's saying it out loud while operating at the peak of her commercial power. Most artists in her position are locking in stadium dates and brand deals; Rodrigo is musing about lecture halls.

• She's keeping her options open: no decision yet on a full degree versus a few individual courses.
• Timing is flexible: Rodrigo has not attached a date or a school to the idea.
• The impulse fits her catalogue: her songwriting has always been about the tension between growing up too fast and wanting to slow down.

What It Means for Filipino Music Fans

For listeners across the OPM (Original Pilipino Music) landscape and the wider Filipino music scene, Rodrigo is more than a chart phenomenon — she's the most visible Filipino American pop star of her generation, and she has consistently acknowledged her heritage, including the family traditions she grew up with. Her openness about something as unglamorous as schoolwork is part of the same appeal: she reads as a real person, not a manufactured icon.

That relatability is also a strategic asset. A generation of fans grew up alongside her debut, and they're now navigating their own college applications, gap years, and career pivots. An artist who admits she might want to sit in a classroom again is speaking their language.

The Bigger Picture

Rodrigo's remarks land in a moment when the definition of a music career is widening. Artists launch albums, documentaries, and side projects; they also burn out, take breaks, and reinvent themselves. For someone who has been working professionally since childhood — commercials at seven, a film lead at twelve, a Disney series shortly after — the idea of choosing to be a student, rather than being cast as one, carries a certain logic.

Whether she eventually enrolls or not, the comment reveals something useful about her instincts: Rodrigo isn't treating her current altitude as the end of the story. She's treating it as a chapter — one that, apparently, still has room for homework.