14-Year-Old Becomes Youngest Student At HBCU Coppin State University

Coppin State University has welcomed the youngest freshman student in its history. At 14 years old, West Muhammad is majoring in cybersecurity engineering and attending classes on campus.

“I was a little bit nervous because, although I was ready to come to school and just go through it, it was a little interesting,” he said in an interview with 11 News . “People would come up to me and ask me, ‘How did you get here?’ And, I started realizing that this is rare.”

Muhammad, whose mother also graduated from Coppin State, says attending an HBCU and being surrounded by like-minded peers is a great feeling.

“It’s also nice seeing so many Black students that are trying their best to become nurses, lawyers, doctors,” he told The Baltimore Sun . “It’s just great to be in an environment where I see other people, and other young people, that are trying to apply themselves to be something better.”

Muhammad received the Fanny Jackson Coppin Scholarship, which covers four years of study, tuition, and up to $1,000 a year for books. He is one of 31 students out of about 600 applicants to receive this scholarship.

“Students that receive that are definitely highly academically prepared for not just college, but for the co-curricular opportunities outside of just the academic work,” Jinawa McNeil, admissions director at Coppin State said. “He’s definitely a very smart young man, definitely worthy of any scholarship like that.”

Muhammad started reading when he was only 3 years old and entered first grade at 4. He has often been the youngest student in his class for most of his schooling.

“Even at school, I remember I was the youngest out of my friend groups, and sometimes, the shortest, they would say,” Muhammad told 11 News.

His mother said entering college at a young age is not something her son sees as out of the ordinary.

“He’s always been accelerated,” she said. “Him being 14 in college — it’s like, normal for him.”

Muhammad’s mother drives him to classes as he lives 15 minutes away from campus. He hopes to take internships during his studies and eventually launch his own company.

“My experience with school is just showing that those things that we may deem impossible or too hard to empower ourselves to do, are indeed possible,” he said.

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