This article reviews research about how students who enter college early perform academically and socially. Research results suggest that early entrants continue to achieve at high levels in college. Also, most students make the adjustment to the social scene on campus easily and have friendships with typically aged college students. Research suggests that early entrants students tend to continue on to graduate school and use the time gained from early entrance for further academic opportunities. Future research should focus on studying under- achievers and the early career productivity of early entrants. The decision to enter college early is one of matching a students needs and abilities to the appropriate environment.

Among the options for gifted students to obtain appropriately challenging instruction is early entrance to college. Entering college before the usual age has long been used by individual students to accommodate their learning needs. (See Brody & Stanley, 1991 for more history on early entrance to college.) At present, most universities and colleges (87%) will accept exceptionally promising young students without a high school diploma (Fluitt & Strickland, 1984, as reported in Cornell, Callahan, Bassin & Ramsay, 1991) and some (16%) will admit students of pre-high school age. But only a few universities have instituted special early entrance programs to attract and support young talent.

There is a need for early entrance programs. The growth of programs for gifted elementary and high school students such as the regional talent searches have resulted in many gifted students taking advanced classes early and completing the high school curriculum prior to the twelfth grade. These gifted students need and desire early access to college level work.

The advanced courses that are available in high school may not be appropriate in level for very gifted students. In a study done at Northwestern University on talent search participants, it was found that projected high school SAT scores for students who had the lowest scores when they took the test in the seventh or eighth grade, would meet or exceed the average scores of high school students who completed AP courses in high school (Olszewski-Kubilius, Mockros & Wiley, 1990). This suggests that students who score at or above 400 on the SAT at seventh or eighth grade may be ready for AP courses earlier than their junior or senior year of high school, when students typically take them.

Cox, Daniel and Boston (1985) found that 28% of the school districts in their nation wide study of practices in gifted education allow students to graduate from high school early. In addition, some states (i.e. Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, see Talent Development, Spring, 1993) have or are preparing legislation to allow high school students to simultaneously enroll in college, i.e. dual enrollment. However, most put severe restrictions on the number of college courses a student can take and/or limit this option to primarily juniors and seniors. And many students are not able to take advantage of these options because their families often have to pay part of the college tuition and they are not eligible for financial aid. Thus, the options that are available to very bright high school aged students for early access to college courses still may be insufficient for a segment of the gifted population.

Along with the increase in special early entrance programs and the number of early entrance students, is a body of research about the effects of early entrance. Many educators and parents are still leery of this practice as they are of other accelerative strategies (Jones & Southern, 1991). The purpose of this article is to address some basic questions and issues about early entrance to college and to relate the research evidence regarding them.

Early Entrance Programs
Early entrance programs are typically set up as special programs within an existing college or university. One exception to this is the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science which is structured so that Texas students concurrently complete the last two years of high school and the first two years of college. Another is Simon's Rock which is administratively tied to Bard College but is a separate community. Students earn an Associate of Arts degree after two years and elect either to continue at the college or transfer to another institution.

Early entrance programs vary on several dimensions. Some admit students to college only one or two years early while others admit students after completion of the seventh or eighth grade or after one year of high school. One program is exclusively for females. Some programs are residential while others, particularly those that admit students after elementary school, require students to commute. Usually early entrance programs have special support services available for students as part of the program. But the degree of support varies, with more support provided in programs that admit younger students. Support includes special residence halls, an assigned counselor, a designated student lounge, and special social events.

The programs that offer the most radical acceleration provide a transition program that prepares students academically for college and during which they take some college classes. Transition programs vary in duration from several months to a year. And, there are universities that have a reputation for accepting younger students and may have substantial numbers of them, but do not have special support services for them.

Entrance requirements for early entrance programs vary but generally include SAT or ACT scores. Most programs use interviews to assess prospective students' maturity, independence, general readiness for the college environment, and family support for the program. Typically, acceptance decisions are made after a substantial amount of information has been collected on the student and his/her family.

Early entrance programs have been in existence for varying amounts of time. The oldest and most established has been operating for 26 years, another for 16 years, and several have developed within the past eight to ten years. The age of the program will affect the degree to which selection procedures have been refined and the available evidence about the program. These and other program characteristics can affect research findings and will be pointed out as necessary in the review of the literature.

Some Caveats
The students who enter college early are a highly selective group. They have exceptional intellectual abilities. In addition, the fact that students are aware of the possibility of early entrance and enter these programs suggests that they have unusually interested and supportive families or teachers. Early entrants may be outstanding in other ways, such as socially or in their level of confidence and maturity. Researchers may eschew the research findings reported below because of the selectivity of the samples studied. It is probably true that if a random group of academically qualified high school students were put into an early entrance program, the results of these investigations would be different. But, as Benbow (1991) points out, accelerative strategies are not for every gifted child and it is appropriate that students self select themselves into these opportunities. Self selection really entails matching a child's needs, personality and abilities to the characteristics of a program (Benbow, 1991). Early entrance programs, especially those that offer radical acceleration (i.e. four years or more), have continuously refined their selection procedures based on experiences with students to ensure that participants can do college level work and adjust socially. They try to choose students who will succeed. As Southern and Jones (1991) point out, most accelerative options, including early admission, are administrative arrangements to accommodate students who have mastered material at an earlier than usual age. Candidates for early admission are usually very obviously different from other students and both positive and negative findings regarding early entrants are as likely attributable to these differences as to the early entrance experience itself (Southern & Jones, 1991). This said, the research supports that early entrance to college is an appropriate option for some gifted students.

How Do Early Entrance Students Perform Academically?
Under the broad question of how early entrants to college perform academically are many secondary questions including the following: Do students admitted early live up to their potential or do they earn passing but mediocre grades? Does their academic performance suffer due to skill gaps as a result of skipping years of high school? Do students graduate and "on time"? Do early entrants attend less selective colleges than they would if they did not go early? There are research findings available on each of these issues.

In general, the academic performance of early entrants is impressive. Early entrants earn higher grade point averages than regular freshman (Eisenberg & George, 1979; Janos, Sanfilippo & Robinson, 1986; Noble, Robinson & Gunderson, 1993), typically in the B+ to A- range (Stanley & McGill, 1986; Swiatek & Benbow, 1991), and equal to those of a group of National Merit Scholars at the same university (Janos, et al, 1986). Compared to typical college students, they are more likely to complete college (Pressy, 1967), to complete college on time (Brody, Assouline, & Stanley, 1990; Stanley & McGill, 1986), to earn general and departmental honors (Stanley & McGill, 1986; Brody et al., 1990), to make the dean's list (Eisenberg & George, 1979), to have plans to enter graduate school (Noble, Robinson & Gunderson, 1993), and to complete concurrent master's degrees (Brody, et al, 1990). The majority of these results are based on students who entered a private, selective, academically prestigious university which did not have a special early entrance program, one to two years early. A few are based on a large state institution that admitted students immediately after the seventh or eighth grade into a year long transition program at the university. Thus, the demands of these experiences, either because of the academic reputation of the institution or the age of the student, were great, yet the early entrants were very successful.

Another early entrance program evaluated the progress of female students who entered college after completing at least one year of high school by administering the Iowa Tests of Educational Development subsequent to the students' college freshman year. Most students earned scores above the 8Oth percentile and many above the 95th percentile, compared to 12th grade norms, on tests covering math, literature, social studies and the natural sciences (Callahan, Cornell & Lloyd, 1992). Thus, the early entrants achievement was on par with that of typically aged college freshman as assessed by standardized achievement tests.

While the results regarding the academic performance of early entrants are overwhelmingly positive, it must be remembered that students who perform very poorly generally leave the program and are not included in research studies. And while the average performance level of early entrants is high, there is a range of performance among those who continue in the program. The number of underachieving students in programs is generally not reported. Janos et al., (1986) did study less successful students and specifically investigated the reasons for underachievement among a group of very young early entrants. These students entered college after the seventh or eighth grade and were part of a program that offers comprehensive support including counseling and a special year long transition program. Janos et al, (1986) identified 12 students out of 56 (21%) who earned grade point averages that were more than 1.5 standard deviations below those of other early entrance students. Most of the underachievers had dropped out of college for at least one semester, but only two had returned to high school. They had twice as many withdrawals from courses and had received twice as many incomplete as other early entrants. The underachievers tended to alternate between successful and dismal academic terms. Their successful terms demonstrated that they had the ability to succeed in college despite their age. Their dismal terms were attributed to their general immaturity. Underachieving males in the study were often preoccupied with fantasy games. Underachieving females had quite organized social lives but spent too much of their time involved in these social activities. The underachieving females eventually were able to juggle their social and academic lives and exhibit a consistent pattern of high achievement in the later years of college (N. Robinson, personal communication, September 12th, 1993). These underachieving students came from one of the earliest years of this program and the percentage of unsuccessful or less successful students is now considerably lower.

Another program that admits students two ears early classified students as successful on the basis of GPA (unsuccessful students had a GPA below 2.5) and behavior or adjustment problems (Saylor, 1993). The unsuccessful group also included students who dropped out of program. Forty five percent of the students admitted in the first three years of the program were judged unsuccessful, but many were deemed so because of adjustment and behavior issues that were not serious. Lower ratings based on teachers' recommendations solicited at the time of application best discriminated successful from unsuccessful males. The best discriminator of unsuccessful from successful females was SAT-M; successful females had SAT-M scores that were an average of 24 points higher than unsuccessful females. Success was also associated with being from a larger family and participation in activities during high school, although this varied by sex. Academic activities benefited females while church and social ones did not; Social and church activities benefited males. For males, participation in social activities may have facilitated a general maturity and ability to adjust to residential life. For females participation in high school academic activities may indicate seriousness of academic and educational pursuits. These results are interesting in light of Janos, et al (1986) findings regarding factors associated with underachievement for males and females in a radical acceleration program.

Saylor (1993) also reported that of the students admitted in the first three years of the program, 9% of males had adjustment problems, 28% had academic problems and 8% had behavior problems. For females the percentages were 18% adjustment, 23% academic, and 7% behavior. The actual attrition rate for students in the program was not reported but had declined significantly since the first year and was zero as of the fall semester of the fifth year. The percentage of students with academic problems was also cut by 50% (Saylor, 1993). These changes were attributed to the hiring of counseling staff and better training for residential staff and students.

Few other programs have reported their rates for underachievement or attrition in published articles. An early entrance program for gifted females reported an attrition rate of 30% in the first year of the program. However, this was quickly reduced to 13% when selection procedures were modified and made more stringent. And, Noble, Robinson, and Gunderson (1993) report that 5 to 10% of students who entered college after the seventh or eighth grade dropped out of the program or do poorly. These rates are quite low.

One study (Brody et al, 1990) attempted to predict various indicators of academic performance for early entrants to a private, selective eastern university. The only significant predictor was the number of Advanced Placement courses. It accounted for 16% of the variance in freshman GPA, 12% of the variance in cumulative GPA, 14% of the variance in making the Dean's list, and 6% of the variance in honors earned by graduation. The authors reasoned that AP courses provided needed exposure to college level work, and helped students to learn advanced course content, gain confidence in their learning abilities, and develop study skills needed for success in college courses. While AP classes may help prepare students who enter one or two years early, students who enter three or four years early typically enter special transition programs to ease them into the college curriculum. Even with such programs, some of these students still report being unprepared for science study at the college level (Janos, Robinson. & Lunnenborg, 1989).

One of the concerns about entering college early is that the student, because of a desire to succeed or limitations in the choices available, may choose an institution that is not regarded as academically selective or prestigious. Early entrance students are likely to pursue graduate studies and so the reputation of their undergraduate institution is an important concern. In a longitudinal study of talent search participants, students who entered college early by at least one year were compared to students who entered at the usual time. Accelerants and non accelerants were matched on gender and ability as measured by SAT scores. Results showed that both groups entered academically prestigious colleges and universities (Benbow & Swiatek, 1991). However, students who qualified to enter an early entrance program at a public university after the seventh or eighth grade but chose not to, eventually entered more academically selective institutions than those students who entered early (Janos et al, 1989).

At present, the number of colleges or universities with special early entrance programs is small and most of these are not selective institutions. However, almost all of these programs offer important support services to early entrants and may be the only option for students who need to begin college level work immediately after completion of elementary school. Students and parents need to weigh the value of a degree from a very academically selective institution versus a degree earned at a more appropriate time in a sifted student's life from a less prestigious institution.

How Do Early Entrants Fare Socially and Emotionally?
Probably the major concern of students who are considering early entrance to college is whether they will fit into the college social life. Will they make friends? Will they make the adjustment to increased responsibility for oneself and self management? In comparison to the body of research evidence that exists on the academic performance of early entrants, relatively little exists regarding these issues. One study investigated the friendship patterns of 68 early entrance students who entered a large state university immediately after the seventh or eighth grade (Janos and Robinson, 1985; Janos et al, 1988). This university had a special support program for early entrants and students spend their entire first year in the transition school with other early entrants The students were 16 at the time of data collection and most had been in college for at least 2 years. Almost all of the students, 92%, reported having a best friend and 68% reported having at least five good friends. During the first year, the early entrants spent most of their time with other early entrants, but by their junior year, most of their companions were other typical age college juniors, i.e. two years older than the accelerants on average. Female early entrants acquired older friends more quickly than males. It is possible that the switch to primarily college student friends would have occurred earlier if the early entrants had not been in the transition school. It is also possible that the transition school may be a necessary precursor to friendships with older students, allowing students to mature and main confidence.

Another study of students in this same program solicited comments about their early entrance experience. Results showed that most students perceived the other early entrants as a useful support group during their first few college years (Noble & Drummond, 1992). With time, students felt they became less dependent upon other early entrants and were generally treated well by other college students. The early entrants felt less socially adept at times compared to typical aged college students and less experienced sexually. Physical maturation helped them to blend in better by their sophomore year. Their age did hamper them in some ways -they could not drive nor reside in the dormitories. But generally, students felt positive about their peer relationships in college.

Some research speaks to the issue of general adjustment to college for early entrance students. Cornell, Callahan and Lloyd (1991) studied the adjustment of 44 females who had left high school after at least one year of study and were enrolled in a residential program at a small liberal arts college. The students had a program of support including special counselors and lived together with other early entrants. On general adjustment measures such as the Jackson Personality Profile, early entrants were found to be better adjusted than high school and even college students.

Residential counselors who lived with the early entrants kept logs of students' communications with them regarding their mental health and any problems they were having. On the basis of these measures, more than half of the females showed signs of depression during their first year, 11% gave indications of suicidal thoughts, and 50% were referred for counseling. Thirty percent of the students left the program after the first year due to what the staff termed "stress-related" factors (Cornell, Callahan, & Lloyd, 1991). Girls who made a better adjustment to the program were those who were found to be more responsible, had other interpersonal interests, had more harmonious family relationships, especially with their mothers, and had structured family environments that emphasized active recreational activities and independence (Callahan, Cornell & Lloyd, 1992).

Some of these findings may be disturbing, but they may also be misleading and not generalizeable (Stanley, 1991). The study did not compare the early entrants to typical college freshman women. Without data on a comparison group, it is not clear if the percentage of early entrants in distress is unusual for freshman. Also, the study was done on one of the earliest groups of early entrants in this program, before selection procedures were well defined and studied. In fact, many of these girls had low IQ's compared to students typically admitted into gifted programs and given the challenging nature of the program. It appears that many of the earliest participants were simply not prepared to do college level work. In fact, when selection procedures were refined, attrition declined by almost two thirds. It is not known whether the incidence of depression was similarly affected by these changes.

Robinson and Janos (1985) found that students who entered college four to five years early were more independent and unconventional, and less conforming as assessed by measures of personality, compared to students who were equally bright but opted to go to high school and a group of National Merit Scholarship finalists. The authors note that these characteristics may have accounted for these students' unconventional choice to enter college early.

Some early entrants may experience a decrease in self-esteem during the first semester of college (Lupkowski, Whitmore & Ramsay, 1992) but these chances are so small as to have no practical significance. Callahan et al, (1992) reported no changes in self esteem for participants in an all girls early entrance program over the first year of the program. A decrement in self esteem or self confidence when gifted students enroll in a challenging academic program has been noted before and is usually small in magnitude and temporary in duration (Olszewski-Kubilius, Kulieke & Krasney, 1988).

Noble and Drummond (1992) found that early entrants who went through a year of transition program at their university before starting college classes with typical college students, felt that they had matured intellectually and socially during this time and would not have done so if they had stayed in high school. They felt that their early entrance experience had many positive effects including enhancement of their emotional stability (Noble, Robinson & Gunderson, 1993).

Regrets About Entering Early?
From the available evidence, it appears that few early entrants expressed regrets about their decision. Pressy (1967), found that early entrance students in the Ford Foundation program mentioned earlier, were bored in high school and preferred the college environment despite some adjustment difficulties. However, the respondents in this study represent only a small subsample of the early entrants in this nationwide program.

Noble and Drummond (1992) found that 11 of the 24 students they surveyed who had entered college four to five years early, had no regrets about not attending high school. A few students felt some unhappiness about missing some of the social events and extra-curricular activities of high school and some thought that they might have been eligible for more scholarships if they had gone to high school. But these students also reported that they had been bored in high school and longed for the challenging college environment.

In a longitudinal follow-up of participants in this same early entrance program, Noble, Robinson and Gunderson (1993) asked three groups of students to indicate their feeling about their decision to accelerate (or not accelerate) their education. The three groups included early entrants, students who qualified to enter early but decided not to, and a group of National Merit Scholarship finalists who entered college at the typical age. Most of the students within each group were satisfied with the degree of acceleration they experienced and chose. Only 18% of 109 early entrants said that they wished they had accelerated less, citing social isolation and family stress primarily as reasons. However, among this small number of students with regrets, most were in the program prior to the creation of the year long transition school. The authors note that these students did not have the special support of adults connected with the program nor other early entrance students and this may have contributed to their feelings.

It is really not very surprising that few students regret leaving high school early. Most students who entered college early do so as a last resort. They have exhausted all the opportunities available to them for advanced coursework in high school, and, they do not perceive the social environment to be especially supportive. They view the college environment as more accepting (Noble & Drummond, 1992) than high school. While they may feel out of place at college this is not very different than the way they feel in high school. And, at least their academic environment is more suitable.

The students most vulnerable for having regrets are those involved in varsity sports. Southern and Jones (1992) and Stanley (1992) caution that student athletes considering early entrance must weigh the possibility of not being able to play their sport. But students who enter college early or otherwise accelerate themselves tend not to participate in sports (Brody, & Benbow, 1986).

What Happens After College?
Questions of concern to parents and educators about students who enter college early include what happens to them after college. Are they too young to be in a career or enter some professional schools? Do they bum out and opt out of further study? Again the available research evidence is overwhelmingly positive. Much of this evidence is anecdotal reports about individual early entrants. These reports are largely provided by Dr. Julian Stanley (Stanley, 1985), founder of the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth, and his colleagues (Stanley & Benbow, 1983), through which many eventual early entrants to college were initially identified.

Typically, these students finished college in less than four years and went on to gradate school. Many are pursuing doctorates and preparing for academic research careers. Some students studied abroad, accepted fellowships or pursued other educational opportunities. Most used the extra time they garnered by entering college early in very productive ways. Generally, the pattern among the early entrants was to continue quickly on with graduate study or in some educational program and not to pause or take time out for other pursuits.

There is little published evidence about the career productivity of early entrants (although Stanley continues to track the lives of many of the early entrants he nurtured through the SMPY program) nor about any discrimination experienced in graduate school or work due to being so young. However, one study (Janos et al, 1989) found that students who had entered college early did experience frustration due to having to make career decisions so early. They expressed a desire for early career counseling. Despite this difficulty, these same students said they would not have wanted to return to high school.

Noble, et al, (1993), in their longitudinal follow up of students who had entered college four to five years early, found few differences between the early entrants and same aged students who chose not to enter the program and typically aged college students on measures of attitudes, beliefs, interests, a values. The authors suggest that this indicates that a program of radical acceleration was not harmful to students who were carefully selected for the program and chose to attend. One finding of this study was that the early entrants, as young adults, tended to describe themselves as more restrained, cautious, and introverted than students who chose to a to high school. This is interesting because students in this same program were found to be less conventional in similar comparisons at the start of the program. It cannot be concluded that the early entrance experience accounted for the chance since these findings are possibly based on different groups of students and the pre and post program measures were not identical. However, it does raise the broader issue of how these experiences affect students' personalities.

Limitations of the Research
There are some general limitations to the research reviewed above although these are not specific to studies of early entrants alone. Generally, analyses do not include students who are unsuccessful in the program or cannot adjust and drop out. Some results, therefore, may be biased in the positive direction. Also, sample sizes are sometimes small because programs only admit a few students at anyone time and some of the research is on single, early cohorts of students, before sample sizes could appreciate. A finding of no difference may thus, be a result of lack of statistical power. And, follow up surveys often have response rates of less than 100% and it is likely that students' with stronger feelings about the program were more willing to respond.

Researchers need to continue to study early entrance students and programs need to continue to monitor student progress. It would be helpful if research reports would include attrition rates and rates of underachieving students. More research about the factors associated with underachievement could improve programs and selection procedures and might assist replication at other sites. Also, more research is needed to determine if early entrance affects students' motivations, interests, and personalities in significant ways. Group studies of long term outcomes, for both, early entrants and students who decide to stay in high school, regarding career and life choices and early career productivity are also needed.

Conclusions
In summary, parents of students who are considering early entrance to college should be relieved as the available research evidence suggest little cause for worry. The decision about whether to enter college early comes down to whether it is a good match between an educational setting and a student's needs and characteristics. Issues such as fitting into the college scene, and skill gaps as a result of missing high school coursework and missed high school activities can be exacerbated by the degree of acceleration. These are more problematic for students entering three or fours years early than for students entering one or two years early. Southern and Jones (1992) and Brody and Stanley (1992) offer some useful guidelines for parents and students to use when making, the decision about early entrance. These include making sure a student has had some college level work either through AP courses or college course prior to enrollment as a full time college student. Also, students' scores on college entrance exams should equal those of typically aged college freshman despite their younger age. And, students and parents need to consider the ramifications of entering a less selective college if that's available, missing high school activities or sports and leaving friends.

Students can also prepare for the experience by obtaining early career counseling and by developing interests that will be the basis of new friendships. Most important, the decision to enter college early should be primarily the students but once made, families need to be supportive and to recognize that despite their child's extreme ability, there will be challenges and disappointments, but also a great deal of positive growth.

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