'Someone told me this' would seem valid when that person is explaining their own history and there is no publicly available record to prove otherwise. That's how newspapers and books are put together - sometimes you take facts direct from the horse's mouth, so to speak.  

 Again, I'm not trying to push an agenda. I'm just trying to make clear the exact nature of someone's education. I appreciate it was not appropriate to put it in the opening paragraph, but it is certainly appropriate to mention it along the way in measured terms.