What was Michelle Obama's alma mater? Former first lady of the United States explains why she "did not want to be a lawyer"

In the recent episode of IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson aired on March 26, 2025, acclaimed actress Keke Palmer joined the siblings to answer questions from her followers. In the podcast, Michelle, Craig, and Keke also talked about how their perspective on meaningful work has changed over the years.

Talking about careers, and her profession in law, Michelle Obama stated:

“I had no idea what corporate law was. And... I had wonderful mentors. People supported me… I was able to achieve and do good things in that year. But... I didn't know what that felt like.”

She continued:

“I did not want to be a lawyer. And it turns out after all that education and all those loans… It was all these loans that we just paid off before Barack went to the White House. We were carrying debt, you know, for a very long time. For me to not be a lawyer.”

Michelle Obama is a writer, attorney, and the wife of the 44th President of America, Barack Obama. She graduated from Chicago public schools, and then attended Princeton University to study sociology and African-American studies.

She later joined the Chicago law firm Sidley & Austin after graduating from Harvard Law School in 1988, where she eventually met her future husband, Barack Obama.

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Michelle Obama was a student of both Harvard and Princeton

While talking with Keke Palmer, Mrs. Obama claimed that she did not want to be a lawyer, despite studying law. Inspired by her brother, Michelle Obama enrolled in Princeton University in New Jersey in 1981.

According to the Boston Globe's article dated June 15, 2008, she majored in sociology and minored in African-American studies. She completed a 99-page senior thesis titled Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community under Walter Wallace's guidance, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in 1985.

Michelle Obama got active with the Third World Centre, a cultural and academic organization that helped minority students, while she was a student at Princeton. She oversaw their creche facility, which also provided older kids with after-school tuition.

Craig Robinson's sister continued her education, graduating from Harvard Law School in 1988 with a Juris Doctor (J.D.). After that, she returned to Chicago, where she worked as a junior associate in the intellectual property law division of Sidley & Austin (now Sidley Austin LLP).

While working at the business in 1989, she got to know Barack Obama, who had been brought on as a summer associate. She then joined Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley's staff in 1991 in search of a more public-service-focused career path.

Michelle also developed the Chicago branch of Public Allies, a program that trains young adults to be leaders, in 1993 while she was the assistant commissioner for the Chicago Department of Planning and Development. She was the executive director of the Chicago branch until 1996.

Michelle Obama was appointed vice president of external and community affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Centre in 2005. She, however, became heavily involved in her husband's campaign after he declared his intention to run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008.

In order to focus more on campaigning, she took a leave of absence from her job at the University of Chicago.

In the present, she opened up about her experience as a lawyer. During her same podcast episode, she stated:

“I went to Princeton Harvard Law because I thought I was going to be a lawyer and a corporate lawyer. I didn't know anything about what a lawyer did. Our family was, we were not professional people. I picked law because it was the next thing to do.”

She continued:

“I got into Harvard... And then I got out. I practiced in a firm for two years. And I was like, I, I don't like this at all.”

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Viewers can catch the episodes of IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson on Mrs. Obama's YouTube page.