5 Fake TV Colleges That We Wish Really Existed

Unless you’re the star athlete of your high school with the potential to go straight to the pros or have the brains to become the next Mark Zuckerberg, chances are you are going to try your hand at college.  And many say those four crucial years before becoming a “real adult” could amount to the best time of your life.

But wouldn’t it be great if going to college was just like what you saw on your favorite sitcoms? Let’s be honest: if you partied in school as much as the characters on those shows, you’d be lucky to skate through with a C+, let a lone an actual degree in something. So, as a salute to the new school year, let’s take a look back at the universities we wish we went to.

Pennbrook University

Boy Meets World’s Pennbrook University was based on Saint Joseph’s University and University of Pennsylvania.  However,  Pennbrook was awesome for Corey and his friends, because all classes were apparently taught by his high school principal, Mr. Feeny, and Dean Bolander. That school must have been on a serious budget.

University of Los Angeles

On the fourth season of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Will and Carlton ventured out to The University of Los Angeles aka ULA.  There, the cousins pay for tuition by working at the campus cafeteria, The Peacock Stop. It seemed Carlton may have lived it up a little more than Will, as he was able to become the school’s mascot, (gasp!) score with the ladies and eventually head to Princeton. Meanwhile, Will is left to finish at the state school.

 Hillman

It’s likely that anyone unfamiliar with the HBCU experience thought Hillman was indeed a real college. First depicted in The Cosby Show  and, later,  A Different World, the show gave viewers a taste of how students at a historically black college got along and the activities they participated in. And, unlike Urkel, A Different World’s Dwayne Wayne didn’t need an alter ego to make geek look chic.

California University

What does the crew from Saved By The Bell do when it’s time to finally leave Bayside? Turn down an offer from Yale (we see you, Zack) and head to UC Berkeley, of course. Well, not the real one, but something kinda like it. The adventures of Zack, Slater, Kelly and Screech continued at California University where, in true made-for-TV fashion, the gang got to rub elbows with an eclectic bunch of folks, like the football pro and surprisingly funny Bob Golic, who played a dorm RA. No better way to enjoy your college experience than working with an ex-NFL player.

 Santa Monica College

Going to college with your mother probably wouldn’t be cool by today’s standards, but The Parkers made it work with comedic results. Through five seasons, Kim and crew chased dreams of working in the entertainment biz, while mom Nikki just chased her dream dude, Professor Oglevee. Bypassing actual course work for kickin’ it all day? Now, that’s a college we all wish we went to.

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