The sports icon finally received her Bachelor of Art in History from California State University on Monday, May 18, after leaving to focus on tennis
Credit: Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Billie Jean King earned a history degree from Cal State LA on Monday, May 18
- The sports legend first enrolled for classes at the college in 1961, but left three years later before completing her degree to focus on her burgeoning tennis career
- “It is never, ever, too late to finish what you have started,” the 82-year-old wrote on Instagram
Billie Jean King is proving that it's “never too late” to finish what you started.
On Monday, May 18, the tennis icon, 82, earned her Bachelor of Arts in History from Cal State LA during the 5 p.m. commencement ceremony for the College of Natural and Social Sciences, per a news release from the university.
The milestone came 65 years after King first enrolled at the college in 1961, when it was still called Los Angeles State College. She left three years later before completing her degree to focus on her tennis career.
“More than 60 years have passed before I returned to the classroom to complete my degree in history,” King said while addressing her fellow graduates. “Talk about delayed gratification, and I came back with a purpose. I had unfinished business, and it is important to me to finish what I started. I like completing things. It’s like shaking hands at the net after a match.”
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King also shared a photo of herself in her graduation gown on Instagram with the caption, “It is never, ever, too late to finish what you have started. #Classof2026."
The sports star celebrated her accomplishment by "volleying signed tennis balls to her fellow graduates seated in the lower bowl of the Shrine Auditorium," the release added.
“I am the first member from my immediate family to graduate from college, like many of you,” she said at the podium, per a post on Instagram.
Two years ago, the veteran athlete announced she would be completing her degree at the university, which features a bronze statue of her outside the physical education department, per the Associated Press.
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“Being a student-athlete didn't mean I had a scholarship,” King told the audience in the auditorium, per the outlet. “Financial support wasn't available to women in 1961, even though my friends Arthur Ashe and Stan Smith were both scholarship students on the men's teams at UCLA and USC.”
She added, “We can never understand inclusion unless we've been excluded.”
After a baby was heard crying in the auditorium, King joked about her speech, asking, “Is it that bad?” causing the audience to laugh, per the AP.
She then said, “Si se puede!” which means “Yes you can!” in Spanish, prompting the school, whose students are majority-Hispanic and Latino, to cheer and clap.
King enrolled for her studies the same year she achieved one of her 20 Wimbledon titles.
“Things were different then,” she told the crowd. “Winning a Wimbledon doubles title today is worth close to half a million dollars. In 1961, I think we won a $45 gift voucher to a local store.”
Credit: Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty
After leaving college to fully pursue her tennis career, King won 39 major championships in total and beat Bobby Riggs in the 1973 “Battle of the Sexes.”
King also advocated for larger prize money and opportunities for women in tennis.
While King achieved incredible things during her tennis career, she always felt that she wanted to complete her degree and would correct anyone who thought she had graduated.
“I said, ‘Don't ever say graduated, I haven't earned it yet,'” she said, per the AP. “I was thinking today coming over here for the first time actually they can say I graduated now.”
Speaking about the difference between studying in college in the '60s compared to 2026, she said, “It's so much more virtual. Gosh, we had to be in class. I didn't go all the time, but I loved talking to the professors and I loved learning.”
A master's degree doesn't seem to be out of reach for King, with the 82-year-old adding, per the AP, “I just turned on the news and there's Shaq [Shaquille O'Neal] walking across at LSU getting his master's. I just think it's wonderful to keep learning.”
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