Jalen Hurts attended Channelview High School in Channelview, Texas. He was a four-star recruit and was ranked among the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the Class of 2016. Although Texas A&M made a strong push to recruit Hurts, he committed to the University of Alabama on June 5, 2015. He played his first three seasons of college football at the University of Alabama, where he made two consecutive College Football National Championship appearances and was a member of the team that won the 2018 title. Hurts used his final year of eligibility at the University of Oklahoma, where he produced a Heisman finalist season of his own. He graduated from Alabama in 2018 with a bachelors degree in public relations and information sciences, and in May 2023, he earned his masters degree in human relations from the University of Oklahoma.