Where did Tara Reade attend college and what degrees did she earn?

1. Early college attendance: a patchwork of community colleges and UCSB

Records and reporting show that before 2000 Tara Reade attended several colleges, including Cuesta College, Long Beach City College, Pasadena City College, and the University of California, Santa Barbara, each cited as institutions she attended prior to later enrollment efforts ^{[1] [2]}. Multiple news outlets repeated that Reade’s undergraduate path was nontraditional and included coursework at these institutions, creating a complex academic trail that later reporters and prosecutors found difficult to reconcile ^[1].

2. Antioch University Seattle: enrollment acknowledged, degree disputed

Reade enrolled in Antioch University Seattle’s bachelor’s degree completion program in September 2000 under the name Alexandra McCabe, and she has maintained that she received a Bachelor of Arts from Antioch through what she described as a “protected program” arranged to conceal her identity as a survivor of domestic abuse ^{[1] [4]}. Antioch University, however, told reporters that it had no record of conferring an undergraduate degree to Reade, and school spokespeople stated explicitly that “Reade was not conferred an undergraduate degree by our institution,” a discrepancy that became central to media scrutiny ^{[1] [5]}.

3. Reade’s explanation vs. Antioch’s official position

Reade and her representatives claimed she completed her BA through special arrangements with Antioch leadership to protect her identity, supplying a screenshot of a transcript showing course credits and her department listed as “BA Completion,” but with no date or degree conferred listed—an element that Antioch and some reporters point to as leaving the degree status unclear ^{[4] [3]}. Antioch officials and university spokespersons have denied that any “protected program” existed and have maintained the institution has no record showing graduation, framing the disagreement as a dispute over record interpretation and documentation ^{[5] [6]}.

4. Law degree from Seattle University: reported and treated as separate

Despite the debate over her undergraduate credential, multiple reputable outlets reported that Reade later received a law degree from Seattle University, a detail cited in coverage of her later career and expert-witness work ^{[3] [4]}. Reporting indicates she used the name Alexandra McCabe in earlier proceedings and later practiced or testified under that name, with the law degree commonly referenced as part of her qualifications ^[7].

5. Why the question matters: expert testimony and legal scrutiny

The dispute over whether Antioch conferred a BA became consequential because Reade had, for years, testified as an expert witness in California domestic-violence cases and had represented in court records that she held a degree from Antioch; once Antioch questioned that claim, local prosecutors and defense attorneys examined whether her testimony and credentials warranted review of past cases ^{[5] [8]}. This chain of events illustrates how academic-record ambiguities can cascade into legal and credibility consequences in high-stakes public controversies ^[8].

6. Bottom line and limits of available reporting

The verifiable facts in reporting are: Reade attended multiple community colleges and UCSB, enrolled at Antioch University Seattle’s BA completion program in 2000, and later earned a law degree from Seattle University, while Antioch University publicly stated it did not confer an undergraduate degree to her—leaving the claim that she holds a BA from Antioch contested ^{[1] [2] [4] [3]}. Reporting does not provide a conclusive public record that reconciles Reade’s account of a privately arranged “protected” conferral with Antioch’s official records; absent new documentary evidence or an institutional correction, the undergraduate-degree claim remains disputed in the public record ^{[4] [5]}.