The degree, and the record it took
Texas Woman's University graduated its youngest ever student in spring 2024. Hana Taylor Schlitz was 16, and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth reported that she had reached the ceremony before she reached a driver's licence.
The sequence behind it was long rather than sudden. She completed high school at 11, earned an associate degree, then transferred the credit into a bachelor's programme. Acceleration of that kind is not a single leap; it is a compounding of years, each one taken at roughly twice the usual pace, with the final degree arriving at an age when most students are starting the eleventh grade.
Ethiopia, Arba Minch, and a diagnosis
The family's account, given to NBC 5, begins in a small village in Ethiopia. She was placed in an orphanage in Arba Minch at 10 months old and adopted by Myiesha Taylor, a physician, and William Schlitz. On arrival in the United States she was diagnosed with tuberculosis, the disease that had killed her biological mother.
Her adoptive mother described the child who arrived: ten pounds, her stomach distended, her skin marked by scabs. The detail is the family's own and was given publicly, and it is the reason the graduation was reported as it was. Her father put it in one phrase to the broadcaster: to see her travel from that starting point to making history at a university was, he said, a full-circle moment.
The sister whose record she broke
Haley Taylor Schlitz, her older sister, had held the same Texas Woman's University record before her, and went on to be reported as the youngest African American woman to graduate from law school.
Two siblings holding the same university's youngest-graduate record in succession is unusual enough to be worth reading carefully. It points away from the idea of a singular prodigy and towards a household organised for acceleration: a family that had already navigated early college admissions once, and knew how the credits, the transfers and the scepticism of administrators work.
What she said she would do with it
The PhD is in sociology, begun at Texas Woman's University in the autumn after her graduation. The purpose she gave was specific: advocacy for access to medical treatment in countries such as Ethiopia, in memory of the mother she never knew.
That is an unusually direct line from a personal history to a research programme. Tuberculosis remains treatable and remains lethal, and the difference between those two outcomes is largely a question of whether a person can reach a functioning health system in time. A child who survived the disease because she was moved to one has a clear view of what the gap is.
Where Hana Taylor Schlitz is now
The last documented position is autumn 2024, entering the doctoral programme at 16. The sources used here do not record her progress since, her field of research within sociology, or a completion date, and no date of birth is published.
The record is otherwise firm and unusually well attributed, because the university, the family and a network affiliate all described the same events at the same time. What it establishes is a bachelor's degree at 16, a university record, a documented route through high school at 11, and a stated plan that connects her own medical history to the work she intends to do.
| 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 |
| Hana Taylor Schlitz | United States | Texas Woman's University's youngest graduate, at 16 | Age 16 |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Youngest graduate in Texas Woman's University history, at 16 in spring 2024 (NBC 5 DFW)
- Adopted from Ethiopia and treated for tuberculosis on arrival in the United States, as her family described publicly
- Completed high school at 11; began a PhD in sociology in autumn 2024 (NBC 5 DFW)
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- No date of birth published
- No detail on her doctoral research topic or progress since 2024
- No IQ figure or test result has been reported
Questions people ask about Hana Taylor Schlitz
How old is Hana Taylor Schlitz?
She was 16 when she graduated from Texas Woman's University in spring 2024, placing her birth around 2008. No date of birth is published.
What record did she set?
She became the youngest graduate in the history of Texas Woman's University, a record previously held by her own sister Haley.
Who are her parents?
She was adopted by Myiesha Taylor, a physician, and William Schlitz. Her biological mother died of tuberculosis in Ethiopia.
Is she related to Haley Taylor Schlitz?
Yes. Haley is her older sister, who held the same university record before her and was reported as the youngest African American woman to graduate from law school.
What is she studying now?
She began a PhD in sociology in the autumn of 2024, with the stated aim of advocating for access to medical treatment in countries including Ethiopia.
When did she finish high school?
At 11, according to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. She then earned an associate degree before the bachelor's.
Is Hana Taylor Schlitz on Wikipedia?
No Wikipedia article on her was identified in the research behind this page.
What is her IQ?
No IQ figure for her appears in any source used here.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Hana’s story?
How old was Hana Taylor Schlitz when she graduated from TWU?
Whose record did she break?
What did she begin studying that autumn?
Sources
- Fueled by childhood battle with tuberculosis, 16-year-old makes history graduating TWU to pursue PhD in sociology — NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, 2024-05-20
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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