Taylor Swift Avoids Pomp & Circumstance

Taylor Swift wins Horizon Award at "The 41st Annual CMA Awards," on Wednesday, Nov. 7, live from the Sommet Center in Nashville on the ABC Television Network. Photographer: John Russell / CMA.

July 28, 2008 — Taylor Swift often creates a frenzy when she goes out in public, and her graduation from high school — coming at a time when she was already a hitmaker and an award-winner — could have stirred a lot of interest from the media.

It did not, in great part because Taylor never attended. Instead, she obtained her diploma via the U.S. mail.

"Education has always been at the forefront of my priorities, so I’m really glad to have my diploma," she told the Associated Press.

For her final two years of school, however, her parents transferred her from a public school in Tennessee to Aaron Academy, a private Christian school in Hendersonville that allows home schooling. During those two years, she earned her first hits, sold 3 million copies of her debut album and took home the Country Music Association’s Horizon Award, memorably telling the CMA crowd that the trophy was "definitely the highlight of my senior year." It was definitely a unique way to complete her education.

"I never expected that my senior year would go the way it has," she told AP. "There’s something really exciting about getting to live your dream and continue your education at the same time."

Taylor’s already made her college choice: She’s not going for an undergraduate degree — at least, not for now. And it’s hard to blame her. She’s currently on tour with Rascal Flatts, she has the top two titles on the Billboard Country Albums chart (Beautiful Eyes and Taylor Swift), and her next album is expected in the fall.