Taylor Swift Will Receive An Honorary Doctorate & Speak To NYU’s Class Of 2022

I don’t know about you, but Taylor Swift is feeling ... (Class of 20)22. New York University announced on March 28 that Swift will receive an honorary doctorate degree at NYU’s 2022 commencement ceremony at Yankee Stadium on May 18. Swift will also serve as a commencement speaker to the graduates and their guests “on behalf of all the degree recipients for the Class of 2022.” The title that will be bestowed upon her is Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa.

NYU’s announcement listed Swift’s accomplishments as such: “An 11-time Grammy winner, Ms. Swift is one of the most prolific and celebrated artists of her generation. She is the only female artist in history to win the music industry’s highest honor, the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, three times. Her many awards and distinctions include being the most awarded artist ever in American Music Awards’ history along with being named Artist of the Decade; winner of the BRIT Awards International Female Solo Artist of the Year in 2015 and the Global Icon Award in 2021; and Billboard’s first-ever and only two-time winner of the Woman of the Decade Award. She is the only solo artist this century to have three albums reach No. 1 in one year.”

While Swift has never officially been associated with NYU, this isn’t the first time the school has recognized her. NYU’s Clive Davis Institute offered a course on Swift for the Spring 2022 semester, taught by Rolling Stone journalist Brittany Spanos. “This course proposes to deconstruct both the appeal and aversions to Taylor Swift through close readings of her music and public discourse as it relates to her own growth as an artist and a celebrity,” the course description read.

Swift has yet to comment on the news, but with NYU’s degree, she has fulfilled a longtime goal that was surprisingly motivated by one of her closest famous friends. In her “73 Questions” video for Vogue back in 2016, she was asked, “What’s one goal you’re determined to achieve in your lifetime?” Swift answered, “I really want an honorary doctorate degree because Ed Sheeran has one and he looks down on me now ’cause I don’t have one.” Sheeran received an honorary doctorate in 2015 from his hometown’s university in Ipswich, England.

After the news was announced, Swifties made Dr. Taylor Swift trend on Twitter to celebrate her new honorary title. There is an ongoing debate on whether an honorary doctorate can use the “doctor” title, but clearly, Swifties have no problem with it.

Perhaps the singer will use “Dr. Taylor Swift” as the name on her next “Taylor’s Version” release, considering some fans use her music as a form of therapy anyways.