Teenager earns master's degree at IU Jacobs School of Music

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Eighteen-year-old Tiara Abraham's educational accomplishments are nothing short of extraordinary, but she politely hesitates to accept the compliment.

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” she said, laughing. “I, yeah, I mean, I've been doing this my whole life so, I don't really see it. I've been in college for over half my life.”

California-born Tiara is humble and certainly wise beyond her years.

“I graduated high school at 13 and transferred to UC Davis as a junior at 14.”

With her bachelor's degree in music in hand – at the age of 16 – Tiara was accepted into Indiana University and graduated with a master's degree in music last month.

“When I came out, I let out a huge scream,” Tiara said. “And my mother says she… she always tells the story, she always says 'this girl is going to be an opera singer.'”

Tiara's mother, Dr. Taji Abraham, said some people were surprised to learn about the complexity of studying in the field of music.

“And so yeah, so we're super proud that Tiara got this at 18,” Taji said.

But don't expect Tiara to rest on her laurels. She plans to return to IU in the fall to begin work on a doctorate.

“So usually it ends up, you know, five, five years, but I'm aiming for three, 3.5 years, so we'll see how it goes,” Tiara said.