In education, programs proceeding at a faster-than-usual pace, generally meaning that a student covers course material more quickly than usual, perhaps two years’ work in one year, or that a student skips a year’s coursework altogether, to take more advanced courses. In decades past, skipping grades was common for gifted children, but faster-paced programs, often with enrichment, are now more common. Students who finish the required high-school coursework early, as by the end of the junior year, may apply for accelerated college entrance. In some colleges, early admission policies allow some students to enter college without having completed secondary-school course work. The College Entrance Examination Board administers a special program, the Accelerated College Enrollment Program (ACE), that allows students to take college courses on campus for credit, even before they formally leave high school and enter college.