How Minnesota Child Prodigy Lives After Graduating from School at 8 and Getting a Physics Master's Degree at 15

The child prodigy graduated college at age 13. By age 15, Elliott Tanner had graduated from the University of Minnesota with a master's degree in physics and a minor in mathematics. In the future, Elliott wants to become a professor at the University of Minnesota, an expert in the field of theoretical high-energy physics. The publication wrote about the child prodigy Live Science.

Photo: Yuliia Pedchenko | Dreamstime.com

The impressive academic achievements of the child prodigy are as follows: after entering college at the age of 9, Elliott graduated with honors at 11, receiving an associate's degree in mathematics in May 2020. Then there was a bachelor's degree in physics and a minor in mathematics, which Elliott Tanner received at the University of Minnesota in May 2022 at the age of 13. Finally, in December 2023, at the age of 15, Elliott became a master's degree in physics, also from the University of Minnesota.

Interestingly, Elliot Tanner is not the youngest college graduate in U.S. history. That title belongs to Michael Kearney, who graduated from the University of South Alabama with a bachelor's degree in anthropology in 1992 at age 10.

His parents are proud of his son's hard work and dedication to science to earn his degree at such a young age.

"While he has an amazing ability to learn, he is also a very kind and sweet person," said Michelle Tanner, Elliott's mother. "He inspires us to be better."

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Age is just a number

Elliott's parents first realized their son was gifted before he even started school. The boy demonstrated outstanding language and math skills from the age of 3. When he was 5, Elliott entered a local preschool, but was quickly pulled out when it became clear that a traditional education was not for him.

"He was talking about particle accelerators when he was 5 years old, when other kids were playing Superman on the playground," Michelle explained.

The parents homeschooled their son and encouraged his curiosity and thirst for knowledge. At one time, his father and mother tried to keep Elliott within the school curriculum, but it turned out to be impossible - the boy advanced at an astonishing rate.

"Elliott absorbed information faster than we could have imagined," the child prodigy's mother noted. "His room was filled with textbooks that he would read immediately."

According to her, her son often preferred to spend the money given to him for his birthday on books rather than on toys or computer games.

By age 9, Elliott had completed most of his regular schooling, so his parents enrolled him in a local community college.

"We were very worried about him," Michelle admitted. "But he did well, and the school administration and other students took him under their wing."

It was at community college that Elliott truly embraced his passion for physics.

“I originally wanted to be a mathematician,” Elliott said. “Then I took a physics course that really intrigued me and inspired me to learn more about the mysteries of the universe.”

A Unique College Experience

At age 11, the teenager transferred to the University of Minnesota to study physics and mathematics. The ease with which Elliott settled into college life amazed his teachers and his much older classmates.

"At first I sometimes wondered how I got here, but that quickly passed," Elliott said.

Although his college experience is a little different from his classmates, Elliott still hangs out with his peers in the student lounge discussing homework, physics topics, or watching movies.

“It’s been incredibly rewarding for him to be around people who are as passionate about physics as he is,” Michelle said. “He’s thrilled to be able to dive deep into the world of physics with other people of his caliber and learn from incredible scientists.”

Elliott has had to contend with media attention as a child prodigy. He is often compared to Sheldon Cooper, the lead character in The Big Bang Theory spinoff and prequel Young Sheldon. He said he has even become friends with Iain Armitage, the actor who plays young Sheldon.

"'Young Sheldon' showed some of the struggles I faced," Elliott said. "And I really appreciated the opportunity to watch a show about the lives of other gifted people."

Still a normal kid

One of the biggest challenges Elliott and his family have faced has been criticism, especially online, from people who don't understand his situation and make snap judgments about what his life should be like.

“People seem to have this preconceived notion that Elliot’s childhood was stolen from him,” Michelle concluded. “People assume he must lack social skills. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Elliott has always enjoyed hanging out with kids his own age, the teen's mother said. He enjoys playing Dungeons and Dragons with other neighborhood kids, making cardboard armor, and visiting amusement parks. And like other kids, Elliott goes trick-or-treating on Halloween, but with a decidedly academic twist: He dresses up as Albert Einstein or theoretical physicist Richard Feynman, his favorite scientist.

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What's next

Elliott has been accepted into the University of Minnesota's Physics Physics Physics program. The university typically provides students with a package that includes a stipend (base salary), health insurance, and tuition waivers. However, in this case, the physics department decided not to do so because they had concerns about giving Elliott teaching responsibilities, which are a large part of the program. The decision came as a surprise to Elliott's parents, who had been counting on a grant to support Elliott's education. They estimate that the entire PhD program will cost about $90.

“We never thought we’d send a 9-year-old to college, let alone 13, so we didn’t have time to build a college fund,” Tanner said. The only option left, she said, was to start a GoFundMe campaign.

But the parents managed to overcome this obstacle. In May of this year, 15-year-old Elliot Tanner received a master's degree from the University of Minnesota.

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