According to the National Association for Gifted Children, the practice of young students enrolling in college remains controversial, primarily due to concerns about their social and emotional adjustment; yet, it appears that the number of students who enter college at younger-than-typical ages may be increasing. Many institutions are considering early enrollment as a means to generate more revenue since higher education funding is seeing cutbacks.
Early enrollee students who participated in whole-grade and/or subject-matter acceleration earlier in their school years because of their gifted status may have spent their final year in high school in classes with other college-bound seniors. In spite of their young age, such students enter college with content knowledge similar to regular-aged college freshmen. Many early entrants have also spent summers taking courses on college campuses, thus having lived away from home, or taken part-time college courses (Brody, et al., 2004).
As back as far as 1984, I know that many colleges were willing to admit students early on a case-by-case basis. For example, young students went to college as a cohort (e.g., the University of Chicago and Ohio State University
I find that more colleges are willing because more legislation has been proposed that provides special alternatives. With more accelerative opportunities becoming available for gifted students of all ages (e.g., summer programs, distance education, advanced classes), early entrance to college is likely to become the natural progression for increasing numbers of students who exhaust high school course offerings earlier than their age peers.
Due to the changing college climate, the NAGC has created the Legislative Action Network (LAN) to raise awareness about the needs of gifted children and influence federal policy decisions. Persons can join the LAN, thus helping to advocate for gifted and talented children during these difficult economic times. A primary goal of NAGC is to achieve a high quality education for all gifted children, and increase federal resources on their behalf. To be successful, members of Congress need to hear from the voters, their constituents, about these important issues.
Resources
For information on NAGC & early entrance to college http://www.earlyentrancefoundation.org/news.html
Educational acceleration is one of the cornerstones of exemplary gifted education practices, with more research supporting this intervention than any other in the literature on gifted individuals...
National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC)
References
Position Statement: Acceleration. (2011). NAGC. Retrieved October 21, 2011 from www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=383
Legislative Action Network. (2011). NAGC. Retrieved October 21, 2011 from
www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=3642
Hey Dale,
ReplyDeleteIs this a part of the "gifted student programs" that we might have seen in the past. Where students are ages 10-14 and start college because they are too advanced for lower level schooling? I remember a few colleges trying to make programs just for these students. They lived in a small dorm with "house parents" to watch over and give them guidance, but they were very gifted students in general. I haven't heard much from those types of programs though.
This is an interesting organization Dale! I think gifted children have a hard time in school, especially when they are so much more advanced than their peers. Kids can be hard on other kids. Any difference other kids see in another raises issues, which I believe disrupt socialization more than a gifted child advancing in education. JUst some thoughts. Lloyd
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