Did You Know The Most Educated Man in the World is From Kalamazoo?

Meet Michael Nicholson, an 83-year-old with 30 degrees, proving hard work pays off for this Kalamazoo resident.

Nobody on the planet even comes close to the number of degrees this Kalamazoo man has earned.  Michael Nicholson, who just turned 83 years old in April of 2024, has been in school for at least 55 years and has at least 30 college degrees.  The last degree that Nicholson received that we know of was a Master's degree in Criminal Justice back in 2012.

Degrees that Michael Nicholson earned:

• 1 bachelor’s degree
• 2 associate’s degree
• 23 master’s degrees
• 3 specialist degrees
• 1 doctoral degree

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You're probably wondering how on earth can anyone one person afford 5 decades of higher learning.  Would you believe Nicholson did so, without accumulating college loan debt?  He told the Western Journal that he started paying for school with a paper route,

That’s how I got through the first four years: delivering newspapers, every day of the week.  Of course, back then, college didn’t cost as much as it does today.

He also got a discount on tuition for over ten years at Western Michigan University by working as a parking meter attendant according to the Michigan Daily.  Outside of his jobs delivering newspapers and giving out parking tickets he held several teaching jobs before retiring to become a full-time student.

News on Relevant Science published a blog on the 10 most educated people on the planet back in 2011.  Michael was 67 years old at the time and had 27 degrees.  The person in second place had 9 degrees.

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