Kelly Ripa Contemplates Returning to College After Leaving School for ‘All My Children’ Role
Kelly Ripa’s celebration of her children has motivated her to consider returning to school.
On the April 17 episode of Live with Kelly and Mark, the actress and cohost, 54, shared that her son Joaquin, whom she shares with husband and cohost Mark Consuelos, is nearing his graduation from the University of Michigan.
“We keep urging him to pursue grad school,” Ripa said on Thursday’s show, mentioning how she and Consuelos were astonished that their 22-year-old son was already graduating. Ripa herself dropped out of Camden County Community College in New Jersey in 1990 to pursue a role on All My Children. Now, she is eager to hit the books once again.
“You know what you should do? Since he’s graduating, you should start school, and he won’t feel awkward having his mom in class,” Consuelos suggested.
Ripa replied, “My goal is to attend college, attend a four-year university, and earn a degree in something. What? I’m not sure. I think I should go into broadcasting—that seems like an easy A. I’ll take that easy route and study communications!”
After Consuelos teased that she would excel in that major, Ripa playfully remarked that she “probably wouldn’t,” because at Live, they have learned “probably what they teach not to do” in the industry.
Ripa once considered enrolling at the University of Michigan alongside her son but ultimately chose to postpone her educational ambitions. Now, she aspires to broaden her academic horizons.
“Perhaps psychology, or maybe I’d take a writing class,” Ripa said. “I’ll teach reverse psychology. I could be an adjunct professor.”
In a 2001 interview, Ripa mentioned that her parents were “adamant about college,” prompting her to take “a few courses” before auditioning “for everything” and pursuing her acting career.
“My father is still waiting for me to go to college. Maybe someone will grant me an honorary degree to make him happy,” she shared during that conversation.
Consuelos and Ripa also have a son, Michael, 27, who graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2020, and a daughter, Lola, 23, who completed her studies at NYU in 2023.
