A 15-year-old from Winter Haven, Florida, became the youngest member of Liberty University’s Class of 2026 this month after completing a Bachelor of Education in Elementary Education through Liberty University Online Programs. Karis Dryer — who first passed college entrance exams at age 10 — crossed the stage alongside her 18-year-old sister, Alethia Dryer, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Digital Design.
The siblings followed a path that began at their local community college, where they earned associate degrees before transferring to Liberty to finish four-year programs. Karis began her specific Liberty coursework only last summer after a missions trip to Central America, then accelerated through the remainder of the elementary education curriculum while balancing an active extracurricular life. She participated on four different sports teams and sang in her church choir during her studies.
Family ties to the university run deep. Their mother, Darlene Dryer, completed a doctoral degree at Liberty in 2023, and the family traces attendance at the institution back to great-grandfather Robert Stewart, who was enrolled in 1986. Darlene said her husband’s extensive academic record — he holds seven advanced degrees — helped shape a household culture that encouraged early and ongoing engagement with higher education. “It is pretty amazing that when I went to Liberty, I was thinking about my grandad who went there and how proud that would make him feel,” she said.
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Karis credited Liberty’s curriculum with equipping her for teaching roles in both religious and public-school settings. “(Liberty) has helped me have a different perspective on what it would be like to teach,” she said, noting that coursework highlighted what it means “to be a Christian in a public-school atmosphere and a private atmosphere,” and helped her form “the right mindset” for entering various classrooms.
Despite the age gap with many classmates, Karis said institutional support and encouragement made her accelerated route manageable. Her mother described Karis’s approach to academic challenges as viewing them as “minor obstacles” and said homeschooling provided an avenue to identify and meet her daughter’s advanced needs from a young age. Darlene framed the graduation as both an educational milestone and a spiritual affirmation of the family’s choices. “Having her walk across that stage is an affirmation that I was obedient with what God laid before us and allowed her to walk through whatever doors were open,” she said.
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Looking ahead, Karis plans to pursue a master’s degree in global and intercultural leadership at Liberty while beginning hands-on teaching work this summer by leading Sunday School at a Spanish sister church. She hopes her story will encourage other young students considering early entry into higher education. “You can always add more classes and take away classes. You don’t have to change much of your lifestyle to do great things in your academic life,” Karis said.
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