13-year-old graduates from Oklahoma City Community College with science and cybersecurity degree

Written by ABC Audio. All rights reserved. on May 26, 2023

(OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.) — Elijah Muhammad has achieved something not many 13 year olds can brag about: He’s a college graduate.

The young teen recently walked the stage at Oklahoma City Community College after earning an associate’s degree in computer science and cybersecurity.

Elijah told ABC News affiliate KOCO that he also has 10 IBM certifications, one Google IT certification and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree at Oklahoma State University.

“My dad has a homeschool program called Pro One Collegiate Academy and it basically accelerates your learning into things that you’re interested in,” Elijah told “Good Morning America.” “So, since I was interested in cybersecurity, it accelerated me in that and I was able to go to college early.”

Elijah said he would often catch the attention of other students in his community college courses, with some thinking that another adult in the classroom was babysitting him.

“I told them that I was actually in this class [at] my age — they were surprised at first,” he said. “They thought I would just be quiet in class. But when I asked questions and I was interacting with the class, they were more surprised.”

Elijah’s older sister Shania Muhammad told KOCO her brother is “the smartest person I know.”

“And regardless of if you’re older or not, it’s like I’ve never seen [anything] like him,” she said.

Shania, who spoke with KOCO about graduating from Langston University at just 15 years old, worked with Elijah and helped inspire him to graduate early.

“I got two associate’s degrees at 14 years old, and I kind of did the same process,” said Shania. “That’s why I just went on to do my bachelor’s. I completed everything in two and a half years. So I was just kind of exploring and just having fun, but it turned out quite amazing.”

Elijah said the siblings are “competitive,” but added, “When someone else needs help, we’re all there to help each other out.”

As much as Elijah studies, he also makes time for other activities, including swimming and basketball. He is also a motivational speaker and hopes to help others achieve their goals.

“If you want to put your mind to making a 4.0, you can do it,” Elijah told KOCO. “If you want to put your mind to winning a state championship, you can do it. You just gotta put in the work that it takes to accomplish that.”