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Funny man Fallon a college grad after 14 years

He left New York's College of Saint Rose with one semester remaining

Jimmy Fallon
Comic Jimmy Fallon, 34, finally got his bachelor's degree Saturday, 14 years after he left the College of Saint Rose to pursue his comedy career.
Hans Pennink / AP
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updated 6:43 p.m. ET May 10, 2009

ALBANY, N.Y. - He's a comic, actor, "Saturday Night Live" veteran and "Late Night" talk show host.

Add one more thing to Jimmy Fallon's resume: College graduate.

Fallon, 34, finally got his bachelor's degree Saturday, 14 years after he left an upstate New York college to pursue his comedy career.

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The television and film star picked up his degree in communications and spoke to graduates at Saturday's College of Saint Rose commencement.

"There's always going to be someone out there like that movie critic, who doesn't believe in you or who thinks your head is too big or you're not smart enough or whatever," Fallon told the graduates. "But those are the people you need to ignore, and those are the times you need to just keep doing what you love doing."

Fallon was a Saint Rose student from 1992 through 1995, studying computer science before switching to communications. In the second half of his senior year, he left the Albany college to pursue a show business career. He was one semester short of graduating.

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He earned his degree after presenting college officials with a portfolio of his work in TV and film, which satisfied remaining credits.

More than 800 students attended the ceremony and received degrees from the school. There are more than 28,000 Saint Rose alumni.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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