Acronym for the
Educational Program for Gifted Youth, an organization affiliated with
Stanford University.
EPGY is a distance-learning program targeted at kids with exceptional ability in the areas of mathematics and science. In order to enroll, they must be able to demonstrate that they excel in these fields.
EPGY is primarily computer-based. A student enrolled in a course receives a CD-ROM with lectures consisting of audio and whiteboard visual. After taking a lecture, they use the proprietary EPGY software to solve some problems of the type dealt with in the lecture, and typically complete some written work from a companion textbook.
Results of the problem sets built into the software are e-mailed on a regular basis to a mentor the student has had assigned to him or her, usually a Stanford professor. The student may contact the mentor for extra help on any given topic via e-mail at any time they wish. At the end of a unit within the course, a written test is usually taken at home and physically mailed to the mentor, who grades it and returns it.
The two major selling points of EPGY are
- that you can do everything from the comfort of your own home, and
- that you can progress through a course as quickly or slowly as you'd like.