Noah Schnapp has had a remarkably productive 2026. The Stranger Things star graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania over the weekend, just five months after his character played a pivotal role in ending Vecna (played by Jamie Campbell Bower) in the series finale. Schnapp, now 21, proudly shared the news with his 26 million Instagram followers. "What, like it's hard," he captioned a carousel of celebratory photos, quoting the famous line from Legally Blonde (which is actually about Harvard Law, but who's counting).
In the fall of 2022, the actor enrolled at the prestigious Ivy League University of Pennsylvania to pursue a business degree, which he completed in between filming the fifth and final season of Stranger Things. "I was thinking of going for acting," he told Flaunt magazine. "[But] acting was just kind of repetitive, and I wanted to try something new… I thought it would make more sense to do something different. And business was a pretty clear next thing for me."
At the time, Schnapp had launched TBH (to be honest), a sustainability-focused snacking company, which has since ended. But while at Wharton, he made plenty of connections that helped provide "feedback and insights" regarding his business.
Schnapp's first week on the Philadelphia campus, he spoke to Teen Vogue to give fans an update on his life as a college freshman. "Oh my god, it's been awesome," raved the actor, whose twin sister Chloe also just graduated from Northeastern University in Boston. "I love it here and it's great to be meeting new people, meeting new faces, and building a new network and becoming a part of a new community. It's such a big transition, probably the biggest transition I'll ever have to make in my life, but it's very exciting."
In search of "the real experience" in college, Schnapp elected to live in a dorm with other students. "I'm just looking forward to learning a lot… [and] becoming more independent," he admitted to Teen Vogue. "I feel that's a huge part of college. Learning how to live separately from your parents and as your own person. I'm excited to become an adult a little bit."
The same weekend he graduated, Schnapp, who minored in film, made his debut at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in France. Decked out in a Karl Lagerfeld tuxedo, he walked the red carpet at the premiere of El Ser Querido (The Beloved) starring Javier Bardem.
