Tyra Banks: Harvard Is 'Hard On Purpose'

Tyra Banks surprised everyone when she announced she was going back to school, and not just any pen-to-paper institution, but Harvard Business School. But it seems as though the experience has shocked Banks just as much as everyone else.

"I think they make it hard on purpose," Banks told the massive crowd at her "Modelland" book signing in New York of her strict education. "Once you get done reading one assignment, you get another."

Banks told me that she had once planned to attend L.A.'s Loyola Marymount University, but was discovered as a model at age 17.

"The lightbulb went off to write when I was 16 years old. And I got accepted to many colleges, and I got sidetracked when I got discovered to be a model," Banks tells me. "A nice distraction. Then I came back to producing with 'America's Next Top Model' and now I'm coming back to the writing side."

Even without a formal higher education, Banks has turned herself into a brand with an annual income of over $30 million and is even perched near the top of Forbes' list of the highest-paid women in primetime.

"I love Boston, it's like Paris," Banks says of the city where she attends three-week intensive schooling sessions costing $31,000 a year for three years. And knowing how important school really is, Banks made it clear to a young person in the crowd, who asked for advice on how to deal with ignorant people: "You have to pity and educate them."

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With one of the most successful movie franchises in history ("Harry Potter") tucked away in her backpack, in the fall of 2009, Emma Watson headed to Ivy League Brown University. But two years later, in early 2011, she announced that she would be leaving academia to pursue her acting interests further. But always one to keep us guessing, in July 2011 she confirmed that she would, in fact, be returning to Brown in 2012 to complete her degree.

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Comments

[Vic22]

06:19 PM on 10/03/2011

reedingz hard!

( C'mon Tyra, you aren't even in the real HBS program, but some side program)

[Reikoku Jaken]

12:31 AM on 10/03/2011

Yeah, you might be shocked by it...but Harvard Business actually requires you to be able and derive data necessary for a hypothesis test from secondary sources, in addition to knowing how to add, subtract, and compute fractional shifts in input effecting the output. Never mind the slew of pending laws which can affect your bottom line, good or bad.

"Once you get done reading one assignment, you get another."

Welcome to the business world baby.

[culturevue]

09:44 PM on 10/02/2011

What a bunch of haters. Y'all just jealous.

[TRUTH71]

12:43 AM on 10/03/2011

Yes, they are.

[Clare53]

07:51 PM on 10/02/2011

"I think they make it hard on purpose," Banks told the massive crowd at her "Modelland" book signing in New York of her strict education. "Once you get done reading one assignment, you get another."

Two statements that show how uneducated she is.

[TRUTH71]

12:34 AM on 10/03/2011

"Even without a formal higher education, Banks has turned herself into a brand with an annual income of over $30 million and is even perched near the top of Forbes' list of the highest-paid women in primetime."

[meeks]

02:54 PM on 10/03/2011

OR....She knows her audience. They are there for a book signing in which the book is called "Modelland". The point is to pitch her book so they will buy it.

[TheKurgan9]

05:07 PM on 10/01/2011

lol - What a joke! LMAO, Tyra Banks a Harvard grad.....

[deridaa]

11:20 AM on 10/01/2011

2 Harvard programs that are let us say..........like a local community college are the Harvard Extension School. Many foreigners go there and claim to be graduates of Harvard (pathetic but true) The other money maker for Harvard is the executive adult program known as Harvard executive business program.
Neither programs have anything to do with a serious Harvard degree. I cannot blame these people who pay lots of money to get into these programs to claim to have the same degree. No matter how many people they have from Harvard on facebook- its still not the real thing.
BTW I know a young lady from South America who rec'd a Harvard extension school degree which includes credits in ballroom dancing and yoga- and she flunked out of 4 prep schools. She is of course a wealthy young lady and could afford tuition.

[Jordin Chrome]

08:19 AM on 10/01/2011

I like Tyra.. I say good for her!

[roshni]

10:21 PM on 09/30/2011

O.K. - let's make one thing clear. This is an executive adult program which does not have the same entrance requirements as Harvard Business School.

[thewholestory]

09:44 PM on 09/30/2011

Wow, that is a lot money (to me), $31K for three-weeks of "intensive schooling sessions," a year. I sure hopes she learn a lot.

[ricchh]

08:30 PM on 09/30/2011

Gimme a break. She took one three week course. She didn't even graduate high school.

[Disdain]

01:46 PM on 10/03/2011

She certainly did not let that stop her from being successful. We'd be a lot better off if most people had her drive.

[SalesmanForLife]

05:06 PM on 09/30/2011

She is not a matriculated student. The program she is in at Harvard is an adult business program for established professionals in a field, many of which are CEO's, etc and Tyra is that.

The program is not a pass fail, persay, but more of an adult learning concept to bring greater results in business, I know this. Still hard but she is not experiencing Harvard like a Freshman or Sophmore, etc would.

[gvnn688]

10:38 AM on 10/02/2011

Tyra has already excelled in business. I bet if you ask any business Freshman or Sophomore if the would trade places with Tyra they would not hesitate in taking their shoes off.

[TRUTH71]

12:35 AM on 10/03/2011

Absolutely.

[TRUTH71]

12:37 AM on 10/03/2011

How many of the "matriculated students" are making 30 million a year? Sounds like Tyra can teach Harvard a thing or two. IJS.

[SalesmanForLife]

11:32 AM on 10/03/2011

Not sure why you are going where you are, I understand your point however being good in front of a camera does not equal business savvy. She is successful and that should be respected but much of that has to do with her looks and the world of beauty and less to do with her business practices.

[alex200901]

04:30 AM on 09/30/2011

"You have to pity and educate them."

[Andrew FingerlickingGree]

10:19 PM on 09/29/2011

Don't worry Tyra, just as easy you get in you can get out.

[ldjigga1]

01:04 PM on 09/29/2011

This article was a total waste of time. And I actully wasted more time commenting on it. Dangit!!

[mssueme]

12:23 PM on 09/29/2011

What a stupid story about Tyra. I see you have not posted her whole speech which makes sense. I know that you are desperate to make Tyra look stupid.Tyra mentioned it was hard work and told the young people to not give up but of course you did not mention that. She finished the statement it is hard on purpose because life is hard and the outside world is hard. This section is a joke.

[Just a passerby]

06:41 AM on 10/01/2011

Tyra doesn't need help looking stupid.

[meeks]

02:59 PM on 10/03/2011

I agree. But the whole point of pages like this is so people can come and get their rocks off saying mean things. Don't worry. Tyra seems to me like a sista who knows how not to worry about haters.