At 16, Liberty’s youngest graduate in Class of 2025 credits God, family with early success

At an age when many Americans are only beginning to apply to college, Liberty University graduate Noah Mansoor (’25) has already earned his bachelor’s degree at 16 years old and has even begun work on his master’s.

Growing up the youngest of six children in O’ahu, Hawaii, Mansoor watched several of his siblings graduate college early, giving him a strong determination to do the same. Immediately after finishing eighth grade, he enrolled in dual-credit courses through various online institutions to get a jump start on his education.

Following in the steps of his brother Marcus (’24), Noah enrolled in Liberty University Online Programs in Summer 2024 and became a residential student last fall. After one semester, he had almost all the credits required to graduate and moved back home for the spring semester. He returned to campus to walk across the graduation stage last week and was recognized by President Dondi E. Costin during the Commencement Main Ceremony on Friday night as Liberty’s youngest graduate in attendance. Mansoor earned his B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies with focuses in business and computational sciences.

“It really is a huge accomplishment,” said DeAnna Mansoor, Noah’s mother, who accompanied her son to Commencement. “Every time he finished a class, I just gave him another one. Next thing you know, I said, ‘In a few more, you’ll be able to maybe transfer to Liberty Online.’ Sure enough, he did. That was very encouraging.”

Noah gave glory to God for his academic success and credited the support he received from his parents and siblings.

“I just had to look down into the paper with pencil in hand and just start doing the work,” he told ABC 13 News outside of Williams Stadium on Friday before the Commencement Main Ceremony. “It was a little bit crazy and a lot of work, but you just have to put your head down and do the work.”

“The best part of it all is seeing how proud my parents are of me,” Noah added. “They funded me and put me through this, so to be able to finish it out and put a smile on their face means everything to me.”

Noah said he was drawn to enroll at Liberty and study on campus because of the school’s heavy emphasis on biblical values.

“Being young, I wanted to go to a very safe and good environment and definitely Christian,” he said. “It’s all about staying close to the Lord. I get my motivation and I do my hard work through the Lord. I looked for the best Christian college out here, and that’s Liberty.”

“As a residential student, being around the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, you could see it shining through the people around me. You can do all this hard work, but if you’re not right with God, nothing matters,” he added.

Having already begun classes toward a Master of Science in Cybersecurity through Liberty University Online Programs, Noah plans to return to campus in the fall to complete his degree. He encouraged other students in similar situations to begin college classes as soon as possible.

“Do it. It’s such a good opportunity. You get a lot of credit being this young and doing this work. It means a lot. The earlier you learn to work hard and do the work that needs to be done, the better.”

Liberty University honored over 32,000 graduates in the Class of 2025, including over 26,000 who earned their degrees through the online program.

For more stories from the Class of 2025, visit Liberty.edu/News.