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1!!!If you're looking for the 1986 comedy of the same name, go [[Film/BackToSchool here]].
2%% Image chosen via crowner in the Image Suggestions thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/ImagePickin/ImageSuggestions152
3%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1452266899092104700
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5%%
6[[quoteright:350:[[Film/BillyMadison https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rs_192699_mcdbima_ec007_h_2.png]]]]
7
8->''"Back to school, back to school, to prove to dad that I'm not a fool..."''
9-->-- ''Film/BillyMadison''
10
11In RealLife, adults furthering their education by returning to school is a fairly common occurrence -- and one that can happen for any number of reasons, even out of a genuine love of learning.
12
13However, in the realm of movies and TV, this situation is looked upon as purely humorous. Plots in which the main adult character -- and it usually ''is'' [[LoserProtagonist the lead]]; only occasionally will you see a more minor character as the focus of this sort of story -- has to return to school are pretty much exclusive to the comedy genre.
14
15Your average John Q. Dropout's reason for completing his education is nearly always related to his career, sometimes to obtain a new job requiring a higher degree of education and other times because his current job demands it. Stupidity and incompetence will often be [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]]. The character will often be thrown amongst people outside their age group or at least act in that way. In situations involving a character being [[FountainOfYouth de-aged]], this is a result of CompulsorySchoolAge.
16
17When actual school children have to repeat a grade, see HeldBackInSchool.
18
19----
20!!Examples:
21
22[[foldercontrol]]
23
24[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
25* Played with Raika Kasumi in ''Anime/M3TheDarkMetal''. She's the oldest of the whole team (but not by much, somewhere between 18 to 20 years old). She was already a [[AMechByAnyOtherName MA-Vess]] test pilot working for [[MegaCorp IX]], but they make her go through her training all over again, joining [[TheHero Akashi]] and friends, who are high school students in their first and second years. Enforced with the fact that the uniform they wear as trainees has all the appearance of an institute uniform, which she has to wear too.
26[[/folder]]
27
28[[folder:Comic Books]]
29* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'': ''Recap/AsterixAndTheClassAct'', in the titular short story, Obelix is forced to go back to school by Getafix after he fails to answer the question when the battle of Gergovia was.
30[[/folder]]
31
32[[folder:Comic Strips]]
33* In ''Broom Hilda,'' the title character, a 1,500-year-old witch, decides to complete her education by enrolling in [[ExaggeratedTrope first grade]]. Her [[TheLadette ladette]] behaviour results in her repeatedly being sent to the corner with a DunceCap.
34-->'''Teacher:''' Recess time! Can anyone suggest a nice game?\
35'''Broom Hilda:''' I can. And it's educational, too! See these dice, kids? You can learn countin' from 'em! Now, who has lunch money?
36[[/folder]]
37
38[[folder:Fan Works]]
39* ''Website/FamilyGuyFanon'''s "[[https://familyguyfanon.fandom.com/wiki/The_Education_of_Elmer_T._Bags The Education of Elmer T. Bags]]" sees Dr. Hartman lose his job because he never graduated high school. So, he started going to James Woods Regional High School to get his qualifications for his back. However, he gets involved with the popular clique when he gives the popular kids drugs.
40* In ''Fanfic/LaterTraitor'', it isn't until Frazie convinces the counselors to let her stay does she realize that all of her "fellow campers" are preteens and acknowledges that since she made this bed, she'll have to swallow her pride and lie in it.
41--> '''Frazie''': I didn't know I was sneaking into elementary school... especially when some of those kids are already ahead of me.
42[[/folder]]
43
44[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
45* In ''WesternAnimation/AnExtremelyGoofyMovie'', Goofy had to return to college (and the same one his son Max was attending, no less!) to get a job. The ''Goof Troop'' series' lore implies that Goofy did this ''twice''.
46* In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'', Don has joined Oozma Kappa after he was downsized from his sales department. Averted in that none of his humour is about his age, rather than that he's still sticking with his well-polished sales persona and patter in a fraternity environment. This is itself averted [[spoiler:in the final act when it's revealed that he's engaged to his fraternity President's mother; and will now be his big brother as well as a step-father]]
47[[/folder]]
48
49[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
50* The title character of ''Film/BillyMadison'' had to retake all 12 grades in order to take over his father's company.
51* The premise of the movie ''Film/BackToSchool'' is that Rodney Dangerfield's character goes to college in order to convince his son that it's worthwhile (after the son uses the father's self-made success as an argument that college isn't necessary).
52* The title character in ''Film/ErnestGoesToSchool'' has to redo 12th grade to keep his job since the school board require all school employees to have a high school diploma.
53* Nick Rivers from ''Film/TopSecret'' appears to be back to school, painfully, in the middle of the movie. He is tremendously relieved when he realizes he was only being tortured by two goons and that was just a nightmare he had when he passed out.
54* ''Film/LarryCrowne'' is a fairly realistic version: Larry went into the Navy right out of high school. When he gets fired from his job for not having a college diploma, he goes to community college to have a better chance on the job market.
55* Frenchy from ''Film/{{Grease}}'' returns to high school after flunking beauty school. She's returned again in ''Film/Grease2'' to get her diploma so she can start a cosmetics company.
56* Josie Gellar in ''Film/NeverBeenKissed'' returns to high school to go undercover for a newspaper article.
57[[/folder]]
58
59[[folder:Literature]]
60* In the ''[[Literature/DonCamillo Don Camillo e Peppone]]'' series, there is one arc where Peppone (the mayor of the village) has to take the primary school finals because, like most men in the village, he had to leave school and work very early. Despite his earlier self-confidence, he's so nervous he almost fails; Don Camillo trades the correct solutions for political concessions.
61[[/folder]]
62
63[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
64* Phoebe from ''Series/Charmed1998'' goes back to college in season 2 where she earns a degree in psychology, then returns in season 7 to become more professional in her career as an advice columnist. However, she doesn't continue where she left off after faking her death and assuming a new identity next season.
65* An early episode of ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' reveals that neither Sam nor Coach graduated from high school ([[ContrivedCoincidence and are both only missing a single geography credit]]). They somehow get permission to enroll for just one class, which Coach takes surprisingly seriously and Sam does not.
66* Done in an episode of ''Series/{{Friends}}'' where Phoebe wants to do a literature course but has it ruined by Rachel who doesn't take it seriously. For a moment it looks like they'll subvert it by having Phoebe give a genuinely impassioned explanation of how she never got to go to high school and genuinely wanted to learn something, only to go straight back to comedy by having neurotic control-freak overachiever Monica accompany her next time.
67* Judge Stone on ''Series/NightCourt'' was found not to have completed his education.
68* The central premise of ''Series/StrangersWithCandy'': Jerri Blank dropped out of high school and became "a boozer, a user, and a loser", but decides to clean up her act and go back to school - aged 46.
69-->"If I don't graduate by the time I'm fifty, I'll be the laughingstock of Flatpoint High!"
70* On ''Series/FullHouse'', in episode 6 of season 6, D.J. and Kimmy request Joey and Jesse's help with a "Stay in School" campaign, and they are stunned by Jesse's refusal to help. The entire family pressures him into telling the truth: that he is actually a high school dropout. With only one English credit missing, Jesse is inspired by his wife to take a night course and earn his degree.
71* In ''Series/PhilOfTheFuture'', Phil has to take a second-grade class on penmanship.
72* In ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'', George goes back to school after there is a PTA meeting specifically targeted at parents who didn't go to college. Max decides he doesn't need to go either so George wants to teach him a lesson. In the next episode, George drops out and tells the teacher he was in the military and got sent to Iraq.
73* In ''Series/TheSteveHarveyShow'', Steve and the gang all have to take a required computer class, which Lovita teaches. The usually overachieving Regina fails the class miserably while slackers Steve and Ced pass.
74* In an episode of ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOnDeck'', Kirby joins Ms Tutwiler's class because he never finished high school. Unfortunately, he becomes too stressed out to take the final exam, and Zack and Cody must find a way to prepare him so he can graduate.
75* On ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', Rose goes to night school to earn her diploma as she missed most of her senior year due to a bad case of mono from manning the kissing booth at the school carnival. Dorothy is the teacher and fails Rose because she failed the history final. When Dorothy reviews the test paper with Rose, she uses some oddly applied knowledge and passes, thus earning her high school diploma.
76* A latter-season episode of ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' uses this trope as a form of LaserGuidedKarma. Herkabe, the school [[DeanBitterman dean of discipline]], spends an episode trying to convince Malcolm to deliberately get lower grades so Herkabe can keep the record for highest GPA in school history. But when he tries to strengthen his case, they do a recount and discover that Herkabe's grade in senior year gym class was actually an incomplete. Herkabe then ''enrolls in gym class as a student'' and [[DodgeballIsHell gets his ass handed to him in dodgeball]].
77* On ''Series/MamasFamily'', Thelma Harper went back to school to earn her high school diploma by completing English Literature - a class she had trouble with originally because she didn't understand the material. She has trouble learning to appreciate ''Literature/TheScarletLetter'' until her friend, Iola, describes it in the manner of a romance novel which results in Thelma reading the book and impressing her teacher.
78* On ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'', Peg discovers that she never graduated from high school because she was one credit short (she failed Home Economics), so she enrolls in Kelly's home ec. class and the two have to prepare Jell-O and crowned rack of lamb for their final exam. Peg's project gets eaten by Al, and, in true Bundy fashion, Peg steals Kelly's Jell-O dish and turns it in as her own, thus allowing her to finally get her diploma, and forcing Kelly to go to summer school. Peg talks Kelly into thinking she's going to have a great summer, allowing Peg to walk away. Kelly finally catches on ... many seconds later.
79* Jill on ''Series/HomeImprovement'', after she got laid off from her journalistic employment. Her education lasted through the remainder of the series' run.
80* This was the premise of the Rhea Perlman SitCom ''Series/{{Pearl}}''. Pearl was a mature woman from modest upbringings. When she realized she had missed out on a lot, she decided to go back to college, in spite of her grown son's protests. She made a bunch of new, but weird, friends and was constantly in conflict with her snob philosophy professor (played by Creator/MalcolmMcDowell).
81* The entire premise of ''Series/{{Community}}'' is that the main character is a lawyer who is forced to go back to college and earn his bachelor's after the bar association learned that his degree wasn't from Columbia University but from a school in the country of ''Colombia''. It is also revealed that [[spoiler:Senor Chang]] did the same thing and will be coming back as a student. Shirley went back to school to acquire the business education so she could start her own company. Britta is trying to get a college degree so she could get a better job than waiting tables or bartending. Pierce and Leonard are retired elderly people who attend college because they are lonely and want to be around people. Pierce is independently wealthy and has been going to Greendale Community College for the 10 years when he meets the rest of the study group.
82* A subplot in ''Series/DesperateHousewives'' involved Lynette's husband Tom going back to college after getting laid off.
83* This trope was the premise of the ''Series/{{Moesha}}'' [=Spinoff=], ''Series/TheParkers''. Nikki Parker (Mo'Nique) had to put off going to college because of a TeenPregnancy and a subsequent failed marriage. She decides to go to community college, much to her daughter Kim's embarrassment because she's also attending the same school.
84* ''Series/GoodTimes'':
85** Bookman does this. When he and wife Violet were dating, he lies and tells her that he was in college, when in reality [[spoiler: he never finished high school]]. After much hilarity and a NotWhatItLooksLike, he finally tells her the truth and says that he was inspired to go back to school because he saw Jesse Jackson on TV encouraging Black people to get an education and be positive members of their community.
86** In another episode, Florida (who dropped out in the 11th grade) employs this trope because she wanted to set an example for the children as well as have an accomplishment outside of being a wife and mother. James (who dropped out in the 6th grade) forbids her from going to school because he was insecure about having a wife who was more educated than him. Florida drops out, preferring to keep peace in the home. In the end, the kids and Willona convince James to allow Florida to resume her studies, with James deciding to enroll as well.
87* Jimmy takes an elementary school science class in ''Series/YesDear'' after realizing he's not capable of helping Dominic with his homework. Christine also goes back to college during the series, and, in one episode, joins a sorority.
88* In the Creator/KevinSmith episodes of ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'' this is the plot synopsis of Film/TheViewAskewniverse movie Smith has come to UsefulNotes/{{Toronto}} (and eventually the school) to film.
89** In the DVDCommentary, Smith says he liked the idea of sending Jay and Silent bob back to HighSchool, and the only reason why he hasn't done it is the royalties he'd have to pay the Degrassi people.
90* In one episode of ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' Amy enrolls in a creative writing class at the local university after realizing she's bored with being a housewife, where she happens to enroll in Eric's class and proceeds to embarrass him. However, it's unclear if she stays in the class or not because it isn't brought up again after that episode.
91* ''Series/TheLegendOfDickAndDom'' has an episode called "Back To School", which sends IneptMage Mannitol back to a WizardingSchool which is an AffectionateParody of [[Literature/HarryPotter Hogwarts]]. He doesn't actually learn any more magic.
92* After she gets fired from the car dealership in the fourth season of ''Series/TheMiddle'', Frankie decides to go back to school and train to be a dental technician.
93* ''Series/ModernFamily'' did this a little differently. In the fourth season, with Lily now in kindergarten, Cam decides to go back to school ... as a ''teacher'', replacing the fired music teacher (only at this point in the series did we learn he had been a music teacher before, although there had been a hint in the second season when he took over as director of Luke and Manny's class production).
94* An arc in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' has Penny enrolled at a history class at the local community college. If Leonard's assessment of how bad her paper was is to be believed, there's a reason she dropped out of college in the first place. She also made her female friends write a paper for her.
95* In the "Kotter Makes Good" episode of ''Series/WelcomeBackKotter'', teacher Gabe Kotter (Gabriel Kaplan) starts studying for his high school's senior-year exams when the principal can find no record of his scores. The records are found, but he takes the tests anyway, providing an example for his students.
96* ''Series/{{NTSFSDSUV}}'': Parodied when Agent Piper Ferguson suddenly decides to go back to college to finish her degree on the advice of the drugged-out frat boy she was interrogating. She subsequently deals with every problem on campus by shooting at it.
97* In a season 2 episode of ''Series/RaisingHope'' Jimmy, thinking that Hope will be smarter than him, goes back to high school to receive his GED (he quit at 17), Virginia and Burt also re-enroll in high school (due to the fact they dropped out while Virginia was pregnant with Jimmy).
98* ''Series/GilmoreGirls'': Lorelai is working toward her AA in Business degree in the first two seasons. She graduates in season 2, and the degree is referred to as an AA in season 3.
99* In a ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' episode, the daughter has a date with a classmate from high school who turns out to be much older, having gone back to school after serving in the merchant marine. When Claire asks him if he feels uncomfortable surrounded by students so much younger, he cheerfully replies "No, once you've been in a Turkish prison, nothing else really bothers you."
100* In ''Series/SchittsCreek'' Alexis has to go back to high school to qualify for college, having failed to finish the first time (unknown to her parents) because of "this long, boring story involving a yacht, and a famous soccer player, and like a ton of mushrooms."
101* Nadine in season 2 of ''Series/TwinPeaks'' is allowed to attend high school when she suffers amnesia and reverts to her 18 year old self.
102[[/folder]]
103
104[[folder:Radio]]
105* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'' has the episode "Mr. Lathrop Returns to School". Mr. Lathrop (voiced by Jim Backus) is a successful entrepreneur and self-made man, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin choosing to return to school to complete his high school diploma.]] Unfortunately, Mr. Lathrop insists on rearranging school clubs and school management in the manner of a corporation, and being a friend of the Head of the Board, is able to do this unopposed. Miss Brooks resorts to a ZanyScheme; she invites her landlady Mrs. Davis and one of Mrs. Davis' elderly friends to go in a new class with Mr. Lathrop. Mr. Lathrop flees Madison High School when he finds himself in a combination sewing circle and day nursery for Mrs. Davis' friends' grandchild.
106[[/folder]]
107
108[[folder:Theatre]]
109* In ''Theatre/AvenueQ'', there is the song "I wish I could go back to college" in which Nicky, Kate, and Princeton [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin say they wish they could go back to college]], and in the end they all decide they'd be losers if they went back, because they would be thinking "these kids are so much younger than me".
110[[/folder]]
111
112[[folder:Video Games]]
113* In ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'', the AcademyOfAdventure Naranja[=/=]Uva Academy is an ElaborateUniversityHigh with students of varying age groups, and you never really get used to seeing people who look retirement age dressed like schoolkids.
114[[/folder]]
115
116[[folder:Web Comics]]
117* Torg has this inflicted on him in the "Torg Potter" stories from ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''. Humiliation takes a back seat, however, to the fact that someone new tries to kill him each school term.
118* A central theme of ''Webcomic/WhenHeavenSpitsYouOut'' Part 1, which shows Ryan finish Elementary School and move on to High School by the end.
119[[/folder]]
120
121[[folder:Western Animation]]
122* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
123** An episode has Homer go to college to attain his degree in nuclear physics (because he works at a nuclear power plant, people -- it just makes sense). The joke is that he keeps on expecting college life to be like a [[WackyFratBoyHijinx raunchy frat comedy]] (like the one he was watching called ''School of Hard Knockers'') and [[WrongGenreSavvy kept on being dumbfounded when it isn't.]]
124** There is an earlier episode where he has to take a night course run by his old high-school principal because he never finished remedial science. His final exam gives us a classic:
125--->'''Homer:''' All right brain, you don't like me and I don't like you, so let's just do this and I can get back to killing you with beer.\
126'''Homer's Brain:''' It's a deal.
127* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'': Season 7 had Rigby go back to High School to get his diploma after flunking out years ago.
128* A ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode revolves around Brian returning to Brown University after it's revealed early in the episode that he dropped out, and ''The New Yorker'' doesn't hire anyone without a college degree. Mentioned later in "Jerome is the New Black" when Quagmire chews out Brian on everything that he hates about him, one of which is that Brian "...failed college twice, which isn't nearly as bad as your failure as a father..."
129** And Peter posed as a high school student to get kids to stop [[GRatedDrug licking toads]]. Hilarity ensued when he started [[BecomingTheMask believing he was a real high school student]] and behaved as such, including dating the high school hottie Connie D'Amico.
130** Inverted when Stewie, the infant, also poses as a high school student to show Brian how easy being cool is. He succeeds, and even wins the heart of the hottie Peter dated, unfortunately, being an infant, he wasn't well endowed, so she dumped him, and he got her taken away on child molestation charges.
131** Peter also had to go back to school and finish the third grade in order to get a promotion at the brewery. Like in the toad episode, he starts believing he was a real third-grader and acting as such, including getting Quagmire to pose as his father so he could leave school to attend a ball game.
132** A small gag used in a third season episode when Peter is about to be killed by a bear while on a hunting trip with Chris, his childhood flashbacks appear showing he has to repeat the fourth grade several times and finally passed right before his hunting trip.
133* In the ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'' episode "Sheepskin Deep", Baloo returns to finish school so he'll be able to attend a class reunion. The really hilarious part is that it's ''elementary'' school, the same one ''Kit attends'', and we see him trying to fit into the tiny little desk and everything.
134* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' has Officer Barbrady go back to school--and the third grade no less--after it's revealed that he's illiterate.
135* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', Arnold's 81-year-old grandfather, who dropped out due to the Great Depression, goes back to elementary school. He quickly advances to the sixth grade, and then becomes a delinquent, before becoming a good student again and graduating. And dates [[{{Squick}} sixth-grade girls.]]
136* Lampshaded in the episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' where Fry has to prove he has what it takes to be a College Dropout after Leela told him that the increase in education standards put him on the level of a ''high school'' dropout. He was formerly a dropout of Coney Island University (Go White Fish!)
137* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'':
138** An episode has Fred forced to attend classes in high school and it's a struggle. However, he's a whiz in the local geology course, which he notes he learned the hard way considering he works in a quarry.
139** Another episode had Fred going to night school at "Princestone U".
140* Done twice in ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'':
141** "Prep School Johnny" sees Johnny being accepted to a prestigious prep school, because they only needed someone unintelligent.
142** In "Welcome Back, Bravo", Johnny goes back to school because he didn't finish the fourth grade.
143* Cat of ''WesternAnimation/CatDog'' must complete one final day of high school to graduate.
144* WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}} in the cartoon, has to finish kindergarten in order to earn his license back. His license to drive people crazy, that is.
145* ''WesternAnimation/IAmWeasel'' and I. R. Baboon had to return to third grade because of a typo. If they don't, Weasel won't be allowed to keep his Nobel Prizes and Baboon won't be allowed to keep the banana he got as a consolation prize. Weasel's tendencies to overcomplicate third-grade questions made it hard for him but they eventually passed. However, someone pointed out another typo, showing it was ''fourth'' grade they hadn't finished. It was revealed the Red Guy was the typist.
146* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E3LessonZero "Lesson Zero"]], Twilight Sparkle's [[SanitySlippage descent into madness]] is prompted by her fear of being sent back to Magic Kindergarten.
147* An Al Brodax ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'' cartoon has Popeye consigned to school after Olive spurns him for being an "uneducated ignoramus." He starts at grade 7, but his constant hilarious answers for basic questions cause him to regress a grade each time until he winds up in kindergarten.
148-->'''7th grade teacher:''' What did Caesar say when Brutus stabbed him?\
149'''Popeye:''' He said, "Ouch!"\
150'''6th grade teacher:''' What is the difference between a verb and an adverb?\
151'''Popeye:''' A voib is an animal, and an advoib is a female voib!
152* In ''WesternAnimation/GodTheDevilAndBob'' Donna has gone to college (presumably not able to go while she was pregnant with the kids) and has some trouble picked a major because she's worried she won't get another shot at it. Bob reminds her she will always have another shot, she's earned it.
153* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'' episode "The Old Man and the C Minus", Timmy's Dad entered a GameShow titled [[Series/AreYouSmarterThanA5thGrader Are You Brighter than a 4th Grader?]] and lost because he answered "sea cucumber" to all questions except the one where "sea cucumber" was the right answer. He then admitted he didn't finish fourth grade and his wife forced him to go back to school to set an example for their son.
154* ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' actually had an episode where Goofy had to repeat ''grade school''. With the ''Extremely Goofy Movie'' example above, this implicitly means that Goofy did this ''twice''.
155* In ''WesternAnimation/Sealab2021'' Stormy is seen with the rest of the fourth graders....sorry, "fourth and fifth mixed". Apparently he has trouble learning the alphabet. (The reason it's here and not HeldBackInSchool is that Stormy specifically says he's going for his G.E.D.)
156* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheHuckleberryHoundShow Huckleberry Hound]],'' ''[[WesternAnimation/TheDeputyDawgShow Deputy Dawg]]'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/RicochetRabbitAndDroopalongCoyote Ricochet Rabbit]]'' all had installments where the protagonists had to return a [[SkippingSchool truant student]] to school, only for them to be forced back to school for not finishing their own education.
157* The Gangreen Gang are forced back to kindergarten in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' episode "Schoolhouse Rocked".
158* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes'' episode, "SeƱor Class", Hector goes to Ronnie Anne and Carl's school to live out the experience he didn't get to have, due to him running the family's Mercado as a kid. Hector embarrasses Ronnie Anne and Carl to no end, and the two try to get rid of him. In the end, they get the idea to have Rosa homeschool him.
159* ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'': In "Mister Eggman", Dr. Eggman becomes the laughingstock of the island when it's revealed he never actually earned his doctorate. He's forced to go back to school to finish his degree so people will take him seriously as a villain.
160[[/folder]]
161
162[[folder:Real Life]]
163* Creator/RobertVaughn went back to college ''after'' starring in ''Series/TheManFromUNCLE'' to get a Ph.D. in Communications. His dissertation was on UsefulNotes/TheHollywoodBlacklist.
164* Music/ArminVanBuuren initially studied to become a lawyer and took up a job as a DJ on the side. When he became more popular as a DJ and found a passion in making his own music, he dropped out. He then returned to finish it up and graduated in 2003.
165* Geri Halliwell of Music/SpiceGirls fame states in her autobiography ''If Only'' that, after performing badly in high school, she later returned to education at age 21 and gained further qualifications.
166[[/folder]]

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