Where Did Simone Biles Go to College?

With 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals under her belt, Simone Biles has an impressive resume and is the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast ever.

Biles’ gymnastics journey began at the age of 6 when she was first introduced to the sport during a daycare field trip. By age 14, she chose to forgo public schooling in favor of homeschooling to dedicate more time to her training.

In 2014, then-17-year-old Biles signed a national letter of intent to attend the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She decided to defer enrollment until after the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

However, one year later, Biles decided to forgo the traditional university experience altogether, forfeiting her NCAA eligibility to focus on training as a professional gymnast.

While I am grateful for the opportunity to compete collegiately, I feel that the chance to make my dream come true is right in front of me, Biles said in a statement to NBC Sports in 2015.

In order for me to be the best gymnast I can possibly be, I want to be sure that I have the necessary support and guidance in handling opportunities and demands outside of the gym. I know there are no guarantees, but I am excited and determined to be a member of Team USA at the 2016 Olympics.

The 2016 Games proved fruitful for Biles as she secured a total of five medals, including four gold medals in the all-around, team, vault, and floor exercises.

After her success in Rio, Biles took some time off from competitive gymnastics and focused on areas of interest, including writing her autobiography, “Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance.”

In February 2018, Biles announced that she was enrolling at the University of the People (UoPeople) — an online-only, tuition-free, accredited university — to pursue a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

I had planned to attend UCLA but had to defer because of my training schedule. I still want to pursue a college degree, and the University of the People offers me the flexibility I need to fit in my studies around my career, Biles said in a 2018 UoPeople press release.

I enrolled at the University of the People because I believe in higher education and want to help share that opportunity for others around the world.

UoPeople embraced Biles, naming the gymnast as a global ambassador for the university and creating the Simone Biles Legacy Scholarship Fund to help UoPeople students pay for assessment fees.

The scholarship is particularly aimed at assisting students who have been in foster care, which Biles is personally familiar with having been in foster care before being adopted by her grandparents.

Being a foster child myself, and knowing what it means to have the odds stacked against you, I decided to give a hand in opening this scholarship fund for foster kids and others and hope others will join me, Biles said in the release.

At the end of the day, life circumstances shouldn’t define you or keep you from your goals. I believe in the power of hard work. I know that dedication and desire can make the impossible possible, and I want to help remove barriers that keep a college degree out of reach for those that truly want it.

It is unclear whether Biles graduated from UoPeople, though the university refers to her as an alum of the institution.