Bristol Palin Reveals If Son Tripp Wants to Go to College in Rare Update

Bristol Palin is sharing a rare glimpse into son Tripp’s plans for the future.

Bristol, 34, gave fans an update on Tripp, 16, in response to a fan who asked if he wants to go to college during a Q&A on her Instagram Story on Thursday, July 17.

“I’d never push college, he wants to work — he already works, actually,” the public speaker wrote. ”He’ll go into a trade and will have his hand in some sort of real estate/development I’m sure!”

Bristol’s update comes just under one year after she revealed that Tripp, whom she shares with former fiancé Levi Johnston, had moved to Alaska to be with his father. The exes began dating in high school, and Bristol became pregnant with Tripp when she was 17 years old in 2008. Bristol and Johnston, 35, got engaged and welcomed their son later that year, but they split soon afterward and continued to have an on-off relationship until 2010.

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“This has been the hardest ‘first day of school’ yet with one of the biggest pieces of my heart missing,” Bristol captioned an August 2024 Instagram photo of her daughters, Sailor, 8, and Atlee, 7, whom she shares with ex-husband Dakota Meyer. “Tripp has decided to finish out high school in Alaska to be closer to his dad and our entire family.”

Johnston and his wife, Sunny Oglesby, live in Alaska with their daughters, Breeze, 12, Indy Rae, 9 and Delta Jo, 5. Bristol’s mom, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, also still lives in the state, as well as many other family members.

“If you know Tripp, you know he lives for hunting/fishing and I honestly can’t blame him for wanting to be back home,” Bristol continued in her post. “As hard as it has been to come to grips with his decision — it’s truly not about what I want. He’s almost 16 years old and that relationship with his dad is a lot more important than my own selfish desires of having him with his mama forever!”

Courtesy of Bristol Palin/Instagram

She concluded, “I can’t talk about it yet without crying, but selfishly praying for a quick year and easy transition for us all.”

That same month, Bristol revealed that Tripp had texted her about wanting to live with his dad.

“He just texted me and was like, ‘Hey, Mom, I’m not coming back,’” she recalled on Cheryl Burke‘s “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast. “I couldn’t even believe it. At first I’m like, ‘I’m coming up to Alaska, we’re not doing this.’ I was so mad. … I respect that he thinks this is what’s best and he needs that relationship with his dad. Selfishly, I’m like, ‘I just want him with me forever.’ He’s my best friend. My kids are my whole world. But I can’t be selfish in that.”

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“It still is gut-wrenching to me,” Bristol explained. “It’s been just Tripp and I, and then I had my girls, but it’s always been Tripp and I.”

Though Tripp being away from Bristol and her daughters “changed the dynamic” in their family, the Teen Mom OG alum admitted that he “does need his dad.”

“He thinks that this is best right now and all I can do is just hope and pray that it is what’s best. … As hard as it is for me, and it’s so hard for my girls too, I know that he needs to grow that relationship with his dad.”