One of the cool things you’ll see as a college student is the chance to hear from famous alumni who return to campus to share their wisdom, whether at special lectures for events like Black History Month, or big ceremonies like graduation.

Of course, many actors, athletes, and singers have chosen their careers over college. The Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am, for example, didn’t go to college, but the Super Bowl halftime show performer has created a scholarship fund that gave four students full college scholarships in the hopes that the recipients will be the country’s future leaders and innovators.

In honor of Black History Month, here’s a look at some of the top Black celebrities who did choose college at some point in their lives. This is what talent and perseverance combined with a college degree looks like…

President Barack Obama: The first black U.S. president graduated from Columbia College, then followed up by earning his law degree from Harvard Law School.

Michelle Obama: The First Lady graduated from Princeton University and also has a Harvard Law degree. Michelle recounts meeting Barack Obama when he was a summer intern at a Chicago law firm where she worked in 1989, according to her White House bio. “I went to Harvard and he went to Harvard, and the firm thought, ‘Oh, we’ll hook these two people up,’” Michelle said.

Oprah Winfrey: This TV personality and namesake to the OWN network graduated from the historically black college, Nashville’s Tennessee State University.

Spike Lee: The filmmaker is among the politicians, civil rights leaders, writers, and actors who graduated from the all-male Morehouse College, one of four historically black colleges in Atlanta.

Denzel Washington: The Oscar-winning actor called “action” on his career by receiving his degree from Fordham University in New York.

Taye Diggs: The “Private Practice” actor and Broadway star graduated from the visual and performing arts college at Syracuse University.

Toni Morrison: This literary dynamo, who has both a Nobel and a Pulitzer Prize to her credit, graduated from Howard University, a noted HBCU that also attracted the likes of dancer/choreographer Debbie Allen and her actress sister, Phylicia Rashad.

General Colin Powell: The distinguished military veteran and former Secretary of State got his undergraduate degree at the City University of New York and later his MBA at George Washington University. His illustrious career is proof positive to those toying with the private college vs. public college debate–it’s not where you go to school, but what you do there that matters.

–Lori Johnston