Billie Jean King Finishes History Degree at 82
Billie Jean King received her bachelor’s degree in history from California State University, Los Angeles on Monday at age 82. The billie jean king milestone closed a school journey that began in 1961 and paused in 1964 when she left for tennis full-time.
Billie Jean King at Cal State LA
King walked across the stage to collect the degree after finishing her remaining year of coursework. She took remote classes to complete the work and had to write an essay on Title IX, a fitting assignment for someone who helped shape women’s sports.
“I went, 'Three years [done]? Oh, I'm going back for sure,'” she said ahead of the ceremony. That line tracks with the scale of the delay: 62 years passed between her start at what was then Los Angeles State College and Monday’s graduation.
King’s Long Route Back
The gap was not a pause in public life. King built a resume that includes 39 Grand Slam titles, 12 singles titles, 16 women’s doubles titles, 11 mixed doubles titles and a record 20 Wimbledon titles across all disciplines.
She won her first Wimbledon doubles title while first enrolled in college, then swept the singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon in 1973. That same year, she defeated Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes match in Houston.
King also founded the WTA Tour and has been tied to major shifts in the LGBTQ+ and Title IX movements. The degree puts a formal finish on the academic side of a career that never stopped moving, and it leaves her with the credentials that matched the name on the diploma long before Monday.
