A postgraduate degree before eighteen
The line in WSFA's May 2020 report on the Harding family is brief and unusual: Heath earned a master's in computer science from Troy University Montgomery at seventeen. A postgraduate degree at that age is a different achievement from an early bachelor's, because it requires a completed first degree, an admissions committee willing to accept a minor, and coursework pitched at people already working in the field.
The second detail complicates the picture in a useful way. He also holds a degree in English from Huntingdon College. The combination is not the narrow specialisation that early acceleration usually produces; it is two distant subjects taken in sequence before most students have finished one.
The method behind it
Kip and Mona Lisa Harding homeschooled all ten of their children, and WSFA reports that nine of the ten started college by twelve. The parents wrote the method down in a book titled The Brainy Bunch: The Harding Family's Method to College Ready by Twelve, which places the goal in the title and the age in the subtitle.
Mona Lisa Harding described the approach to the station in terms of knowledge rather than technique: "We feel that if you love your kids, you know your kids best, you know what their strengths and weaknesses are." She added that "any parent can home school you just have to hang in there." The claim being made is that the result is reproducible, which is a strong claim and one the reporting does not test.
Ten children, one household
The family roster published by WSFA is the context that makes any single Harding record legible. Seth graduated high school at ten and held a law degree from the University of Alabama at nineteen. Hannah took a mathematics degree from Auburn at seventeen and later a doctorate in engineering from Tuskegee. Serennah left Huntingdon College at seventeen and became a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy.
Rosannah finished a five-year architecture programme at the California College of the Arts at eighteen and works as an architect in New York. Keith moved from a Faulkner master's to a doctorate in counselling psychology at Gallaudet University. Katrinnah was a second-year law student at seventeen. Mariannah, fourteen, and Lorennah, twelve, were both studying online at Bellevue University in Nebraska, and Thunder, ten, was preparing for the ACT.
What is documented — and what is not
The firm facts about Heath are three: the master's in computer science from Troy University Montgomery at seventeen, the English degree from Huntingdon College, and the note that he was working remotely in Florida at the time of the report. The report was published on 19 May 2020 and written by Ashley Bowerman.
Everything else is open. No source in this record gives his birth year, the year either degree was awarded, his employer, his job title, or what kind of remote work he does. A local news roundup of ten siblings allots a sentence each, and this page does not expand a sentence into a career.
Why an early master's is the harder record
Public attention usually settles on the youngest person to start college, because the threshold is easy to understand. The more demanding milestone is the one after it. A first degree can be accelerated by credit-by-examination and dual enrolment; a master's has to be granted by a department that has assessed graduate-level work and is willing to put its own name to the result.
That is why Heath's entry sits slightly apart from his siblings' undergraduate records, and why the English degree beside it is worth noting rather than skipping. Taken together they describe a student who used the head start to cover ground in two directions rather than to finish earlier in one.
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viemens Bamfo | Ghana | Admitted to the University of Ghana at 12 (2019) | Age 12 |
| Yahya Elnajaar | Egypt | He was still in grade six when Egypt's science university admitted him | Age 12 |
| Dafne Almazán | Mexico | Completing a psychology degree at 13 | Age 13 |
| Shania Muhammad | United States | Langston University's youngest graduate, at 15 | Age 15 |
| Heath Harding | United States | A master's degree in computer science at seventeen, and an English degree | — |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Master's in computer science from Troy University Montgomery at 17 (WSFA, 19 May 2020)
- Holds a degree in English from Huntingdon College
- Reported in May 2020 as working remotely in Florida
- One of ten children homeschooled by Kip and Mona Lisa Harding
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- No birth year or dates for either degree in these sources
- No employer, job title or description of his work is documented
- No update on his position after May 2020
- Single-source record: a local television roundup of the whole family
Questions people ask about Heath Harding
Who is Heath Harding?
One of the ten homeschooled Harding children of Montgomery, Alabama. He earned a master's degree in computer science from Troy University Montgomery at seventeen and holds a degree in English from Huntingdon College.
How old was he when he got his master's?
Seventeen, according to WSFA 12 News.
What else did he study?
English, at Huntingdon College. The source does not give the year that degree was awarded.
Where is Heath Harding now?
WSFA reported in May 2020 that he was working remotely in Florida. No source in this record names his employer or gives a later update.
What is the Brainy Bunch?
The name attached to the Harding family and the title of his parents' book, The Brainy Bunch: The Harding Family's Method to College Ready by Twelve.
Who are his parents?
Kip and Mona Lisa Harding, who homeschooled all ten of their children.
How many of the Harding children started college by twelve?
Nine of the ten, according to WSFA.
Is Heath Harding on Wikipedia?
No Wikipedia article was found for him. The source used here is WSFA 12 News.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Heath’s story?
What did Heath Harding study for his master's degree?
How old was he when he completed it?
Which other subject did he take a degree in?
Sources
- Montgomery teen on track to be youngest lawyer in Alabama history — WSFA 12 News, 2020-05-19
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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