Early college entrance program

Early college entrance programs are educational opportunities for groups of gifted students that allow them to be accelerated into college one or more years before the traditional age of college entrance. These programs may also provide their students with a social support network and help in dealing with the adjustment.

By placing students into full-time college studies, these programs differ from dual enrollment, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs, which are alternative methods of earned college credits (or their equivalent) while in high school. Because these early entrance programs routinely admit large groups of students and provide social support, they are also distinct from the more traditional educational acceleration offered by many colleges, where they may admit one or two underage students a year. Early entrance programs take a number of forms. Some (i:e Bard High School Early College) are high schools designed to offer a college curriculum. Most are special programs within larger colleges (i:e Advanced Academy of Georgia). Simon's Rock College of Bard is unique in that it is the only college designed expressly for younger students.