15 y.o. DBH student at ASU

"Meet Dorothy Jean Tillman. At 10 years old, she graduated high school, and by 14, she had earned her bachelor's and master's degrees. Now at 15, Dorothy is a #SunDevil pursuing her Doctor of Behavioral Health degree at Arizona State University College of Health Solutions." -Facebook

The DBH is an online program with a clinical or management option.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/14-year-old-earned-a-masters-degree-and-now-shes-an-environmental-scientist-and-entrepreneur/

 

I cringe. Perhaps undeservedly, as I sit here with exactly 0 admissions to doctoral programs and certainly no awarded doctorates.

But a DBH is not going to provide that person with useful skills.

They have a Bachelor of Science in Humanities and a Master of Professional Science (I think) in "Sustainable Science and Environmental Planning" from Unity College. Now a Doctor of Behavioral Health. I see a lack of focus. If she wants to be an environmental scientist this doesn't seem to be the right degree. If she wants to be an educator (she works with (other) kids doing STEM kits and things to introduce others to science), it seems like an EdD would be a better fit.

All I know is, out of context if someone told me they had a DBH I wouldn't immediately think Doctor of Behavioral Health.

 

I'm surprised they admitted her. The clinical option is for those licensed at the master's level. The management option is supposed to be for those with a business or management background. When I looked at profiles on LinkedIn, most of the people with the DBH in management were in healthcare administration.

 

Here is the full post, which I hope will provide more clarity about her professional goals.

Meet Dorothy Jean Tillman. At 10 years old, she graduated high school, and by 14, she had earned her bachelor's and master's degrees. Now at 15, Dorothy is a #SunDevil pursuing her Doctor of Behavioral Health degree at Arizona State University College of Health Solutions.

DJ visited from Chicago's South Side with her mom (name) and her aunt (name) to tour our Downtown Phoenix campus and meet faculty like Clinical Professor (name).

She has a bachelor's degree in humanities and a master's degree in environmental engineering, and she's excited to learn about behavioral health because she knows a person's well-being is about many factors — the surroundings they live in, the opportunities they have and the support they get from others. Combining the knowledge from all her degrees will help her solve health challenges in her community from different angles.

She's ready to get started. "I want to work in Chicago with children on the south and west sides through their trauma of violence and lack of social justice. Many are self medicating and committing crimes as a result of unchecked mental illness," she says. An inspiring student who will be working to #GiveEmHealthDevils and serve her community through programs that improve health. #SunDevilNation

 

This is the second time I've seen Unity College's program misrepresented as an engineering program. The environmental studies and sustainability program is not really environmental science either. Environmental studies is an appropriate title because that focuses on the sociological and economic effects of pollution and climate change. It is more of a humanities and social science degree than a natural science degree. Unity College does have an actual MPS in Environmental Science that is a real environmental science program, but it's not environmental engineering either.

I understand how the DBH is related to her goals of dealing with violence in Chicago, but there's no connection between her current stated goal and the environmental studies and sustainability program. I guess all that matters is that she was able to finish the DBH program without having a background in behavioral science, healthcare, or management, but it appears that ASU is accepting anyone and everyone into this DBH program. It's their cash cow doctoral degree.

 

She is* pursuing the degree.

 

I feel like she is pursuing the DBH because it is a short program that can be completed fast and she wants to be known as a 16-year-old with a doctorate degree.. She is on a speed run to add education to her resume because there are much better options and schools that will relate to her goal.

 

And, not to mention that the ASU program is quite expensive.

 

Mommy and daddy money goes a long way..

 

I can agree with that as well maybe she took out more student loans who knows. It's very pricey ASU and I don't know what average 15 years old will have that type of money just laying around. Not trying to seem like an a** or anything...

 

I don't know if ASU has scholarships for DBH students; my guess is that they don't, at least not large scholarships. My concern is that I see so many Black people earning human services-related, online doctoral degrees they don't need, and they're taking on $50k to $150k in debt just for the doctoral degree. With her being so young and not having any responsibilities, she could have pursued a funded PhD program or at least a cheaper online doctoral program.

 

Update: Aged 17, Dorothy Jean Tillman completed her Doctor of Behavioral Health in 2023.

 

These are all pretty much home schooler stunts but actual child prodigies often lead miserable lives.

 

I think part of the issue is that people expect more of prodigies than the average person, despite prodigy often being on a curve that averages out.

At 9 you might be doing college courses, but at 19 so is everyone. Losing what makes you special hurts.

 

Also, as a 9 y.o. college/university student, devoting their time and effort to academic work may be easy; however, as the person gets older they become responsible for more complex challenges that an academic focus cannot solve. By age 25, their same-age peers had been living informal lessons in life, learning to deal with this complexity over time. The formerly 9 y.o., now 25 y.o., probably has not been learning these lessons, since they were focused on academics. The result: A type of "incompetence" when it comes to dealing with non-academic issues.

BTW, this is not to say that DJ Tillman has this going on; we really know nothing about her other than what we read online. Her specific degree choices seem to be all over the map, even beyond interdisciplinary. She may have been constrained by the institutions and programs she could choose from as a 9 y.o., as I suspect that not all universities and departments within them are willing to admit a student so young, or participate in "homeschooler stunts.". I could be wrong, but don't psychology licensing boards want applicants to be legal adults?

 

Unless it was proctored no one will know. As an online adjunct, I can tell you students will and do cheat and game the rubrics given it is now endemic with AI. In many undergrad courses, lock down browsers are NOT mandatory and the answers to the canned curriculum can be found on numerous websites even without paying for an upgrade. But even with all that, a signifacent number still manage to fail, so congrats to the young genius.

 

https://abcnews.go.com/living/story/teenager-earns-doctoral-degree-age-17/?id=110129194

 

I'm looking forward to reading their dissertation. It's surprising how infrequently the dissertations get published.