This Is How Far Lauren Boebert Actually Got In School

Lauren Boebert was a teen mom and wife. The radically conservative congresswoman from Colorado was just 18 in June 2005 when she tied the knot with Jayson Boebert, who was in his 20s. By the time she said, "I do," she was already a mother. Lauren's oldest son, Tyler Boebert, was born in March 2005, four months after her 18th birthday. None of that fits within the life of a high schooler. She knew that, so she quit school. She eventually earned her GED, though that came much later.

Her priority was to raise her family. In fact, she and Jayson had made plans to wed much earlier, but the government got in the way. Her mother drove them to Las Vegas when she was 16 and Jayson was 22 to seal the deal, but the venues turned them down because she wasn't yet 17, she explained in her 2022 memoir, "My American Life" (via People). "Make no mistake: this was no shotgun wedding. Jayson and I intentionally wanted to get married and start our new life together," she wrote.

According to the restaurant owner-turned-politician, her pregnancy was no accident and very much expected. "My mom was 18 when she had me, which inspired me to be a mother when I was 18 years old," she told The Denver Post in 2023. The efforts Lauren put into building her family ended in May 2023 when Lauren and Jayson split. However, Lauren doesn't regret her decision to choose family over education.

Lauren Boebert dropped out of Rifle High School in Rifle, Colorado, after realizing her obligations with Tyler were incompatible with her education. "I was a brand-new mom, and I had to make hard decisions on successfully raising my child, or getting to high school biology class. And I chose to take care of my child," she told The Durango Herald in 2020. In her mind, it was as simple as that. "I was a great student. I had great grades. I loved being there, but I was starting my family and had different priorities," she added.

After becoming a mother and wife, Boebert's life went in a direction that gave her no interest in finishing school. In 2013, Boebert and her husband opened Shooters Grill, a gun-themed restaurant in Rifle, which required no formal education to run, while Jayson worked in the oil and gas industry. The reality changed in late 2019 when she announced her candidacy. Even though there is no educational requirement to run for Congress, Boebert would have become the only congressperson with no high school diploma.

A few months before she defeated Diane Mitsch Bush in the 2020 general election, Boebert earned her GED. But even with that accomplishment, she is still in a very small minority. Of the 535 members of Congress, only 22 — or 4% — have just a high school diploma. It sounds like Boebert's interest in politics motivated her to pursue her education.