14 Year Old College Student In The Capital Region Asked To Return To High School

Growing up, I feel like all of us knew that one kid who was smarter than the rest of us. I had friends who were grades above their level, and they kept going on to become some of the most successful people I knew.

For many of these genius students, they start college much earlier than the rest of us, but one capital region student may be held back by his district for simply being too smart.

14-Year-Old College Student

In the Bethlehem Central School District, 14-year-old homeschooled Michael Sweeney is already enrolled in college. According to the Times Union, Sweeney has already completed Calc II and Linear Algebra, and has been enrolled in college full time for over a year.

a blackboard with a lot of writing on it

He's completed 26 college credits, finished Composition 1 and Composition 2, and scored a 13.5 on the CAT standardized test, meaning he scored above the 12th grade level.

Get our free mobile app

Graduation Issues

Sweeney should, in theory, be ready to graduate high school for good. Unfortunately, the state of New York only allows those 16 and older to graduate high school, and Sweeney still has two years to go. In order for him to graduate and begin applying for schools, like Arizona State University's Engineering program, he needs permission from his school district.

The district, however, is not budging. They're adamant that Sweeney needs to finish out the next two years before he's able to graduate, but there's not much more for him to do in a high school setting. He currently needs to begin 300-level courses, which he can't do unless he enrolls at ASU full time.