Early Entrance To College - History - First Organized Ventures

First Organized Ventures

Pushback against the artificial constraints imposed by the "Carnegie unit" system began in the early 1930s. Little Rock Junior College in Arkansas conducted an experimental program in 1933 and 1934, admitting students in the top 25% academically as freshmen after their junior year of high school. Another early innovator was Louisville University, which in 1934 also began admitting promising high school students after their junior year. These early programs all produced highly positive academic outcomes, but were not emulated elsewhere. Although the Louisville program was still active in the 1950s, as of 2011 the university only admits high school students on a concurrent enrollment basis.

A more radical approach was adopted by Robert Maynard Hutchins for the College of the University of Chicago. Beginning in 1937, the University of Chicago's experimental, interdisciplinary College program admitted students beginning in the sophomore year of high school. Because there were few formal requirements, early entrants in this program were largely self-selecting, and came mostly from nearby schools such as the University High School. Early entrants were subject to five additional comprehensive examinations, but otherwise went through the same academic program as high school graduates. Although the University of Chicago eventually abandoned this program, it was adopted by tiny Shimer College in 1950, and continues there in a modified form to the present day.

During World War II, the government made academic acceleration a high priority, particularly in high school, in order to ensure recruits were as highly educated as possible. In 1942, the Educational Policies Commission made a formal recommendation that colleges admit academically skilled high school students after their junior year. Schools including the University of Illinois and The Ohio State University adopted wartime early entrance policies. The programs adopted in this period, however, faced stiff opposition from high schools, and did not outlast the war.