Early entrance to college

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (March 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Early entrance to college, sometimes called early admission or early enrollment, is the practice of allowing students to be accelerated into college, one or more years before the traditional age of college entrance, and without obtaining a high school diploma. In some cases this is done individually. Often, however, it is done as part of a cohort acceleration program, in which many such students are accelerated into college together at the same time. These programs are usually targeted to gifted students, and may provide the students with a social support network and help in dealing with the adjustment.

By placing students into full-time college studies, early entrance differs from dual enrollment, early college high school, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and Advanced International Certificate of Education programs, which are alternative methods of earned college credits (or their equivalent) while in high school.

Early entrance programs take a number of forms. Some, like the Advanced Academy of Georgia and The Clarkson School, are special programs within larger colleges. The University of Washington's Transition School and Early Entrance Program, started in 1977, allows a small group of academically advanced students each year to, instead of attending high school, they attend a one-year college preparatory program following enrollment as matriculated freshmen at the University. In other programs, like the early entrance program at Shimer College, the Program for the Exceptionally Gifted at Mary Baldwin University, and the Early Entrance Program at CSULA, early entrants study side-by-side with traditional college students. Bard College at Simon's Rock is the only four-year college designed exclusively for younger students. Also, some colleges do allow some younger people who have early enrollment to take classes and be a part of the college community.