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Empty Nesters! Katie Holmes, Brooke Shields and More Stars Who Sent Their Kids Off to College in 2024

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Sep 12, 2024 12:00 pm·

By Elise Nelson

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College dropoff is a big milestone for kids — and their parents. Celebrities like Katie Holmes, Brooke Shields and more have become empty nesters with their kids away at school. However, the stars are handling this big change in different ways.

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Katie Holme and More Stars Whose Kids Are Off to College

Sunny Hostin

The View cohost admitted she was having trouble “letting the birds fly” after dropping Paloma, her youngest child with husband Emmanuel, at Cornell University. Looks like the teen was ready to hop — as Sunny appeared more and more distraught in her Insta pics, Paloma remained delighted!

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Brooke Shields

Last year the star said she and husband Chris Henchy were sad about younger daughter Grier heading off to Wake Forest this fall (big sis Rowen is also a student there). “I thought I’d be relieved, but I don’t know,” she mused. “We’ll see when we get there.” Cut to drop-off day when the Princeton alum posted a funny clip of herself gleefully sprinting out of Grier’s dorm room, joyfully announcing she’s an empty nester!

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Jessica Seinfeld

The mom of three, with husband Jerry Seinfeld, posted a carousel of pics as the family dropped off Shepherd, the youngest of their three kids, for his freshman year. “Move-in weekend. All 3 baby birds have flown,” she wrote, adding an encouraging message to fellow parents. “Hope all of you first timers or last timers are holding up.”

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Guy Fieri

“It hasn’t fully hit us yet, but not seeing him everyday is gonna be hard,” the TV chef posted alongside wife Lori as they unpacked in son Ryder’s dorm. The teen is going to have to work hard: Guy has said he expects his kids to go to grad school if they want any of his $100 million fortune. Quoting Shaquille O’Neal, Guy explained, “Shaq said, ‘If you want this cheese, you got to get two degrees.’ Well, my two degrees mean, you know, postgraduate.”

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Katie Holmes

The actress tried to see the positives of having daughter Suri, her only child with ex Tom Cruise, head off to college at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon. “I remember this age, this time of beginnings,” said the Dawson’s Creek alum. “It’s exciting to learn about yourself, and I loved that time, so it makes me happy to think about it like that.” Still, she admitted, “I will miss the close proximity.”

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Ali Wentworth

Second honeymoon! The comedian, who got pregnant with her first child only nine months after marrying George Stephanopoulos, is fully enjoying her empty nest now that Harper and Elliot have moved out. “We’re young and in love again,” she boasted, adding, “We were traumatized at first, and now it’s kind of fun!”

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