Gifted and Talented Programs: How They Work and What Comes After Elementary School

Last updated: October 28, 2026

Gifted and talented programs give advanced students instruction that moves faster or goes deeper than the regular curriculum. In the U.S., there is no single national program. Each state and district decides who qualifies and what services to offer, which is why families often find good options in elementary school and very few after it. This guide explains how gifted identification works, what schools usually offer, and the programs outside school (talent searches, summer programs, online courses, schools for profoundly gifted students and research with a mentor) that keep advanced students challenged in middle and high school.

Is your middle schooler ready for more than school offers? See if your child qualifies for the STEM Explorers Program →

What does "gifted and talented" mean?

Federal law defines gifted and talented students as those who show high achievement capability in intellectual, creative, artistic or leadership areas, or in specific academic fields, and who need services the school does not ordinarily provide to fully develop those capabilities. The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) puts it more simply: students with gifts and talents perform, or have the capability to perform, at higher levels than others of the same age, experience and environment in one or more domains.

Two things follow from these definitions. First, giftedness is not only about IQ: a student can be gifted in math but not in writing, or in art but not in science. Second, the definition is about need. A gifted student is one whose needs are not met by the regular classroom.

How students qualify for gifted programs

Identification varies by state and district, but it usually combines several of these:

Ability tests such as the CogAT, or individual IQ tests such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC).
Achievement tests that show what a student has already learned compared with grade-level peers.
Teacher and parent observations, checklists and portfolios of work.

NAGC says tests "should not serve as the sole source of identification," because they often miss gifted students who are English language learners, have disabilities, or come from low-income or minority backgrounds. It also notes that researchers generally agree accurate IQ measurement is difficult before age 6.

Requirements also differ by program. Johns Hopkins CTY, for example, accepts existing test scores at or above the 98th percentile for the student's grade, or scores two or more grade levels above the student's current grade, on specified tests. The Davidson Institute's Young Scholars program serves profoundly gifted students who score in the 99.9th percentile.

Some districts do not use a test at all for young children. New York City, for example, identifies kindergarten gifted and talented candidates through evaluations by their pre-K teachers or, for children not in a public pre-K program, through interviews with early childhood experts.

What gifted programs in school look like

Common school-based services include:

Pull-out programs: students leave the regular class for a few hours a week of enrichment.
Cluster grouping: several gifted students are placed in the same regular classroom so the teacher can differentiate for them.
Self-contained classes or schools: full-time classes for identified students, such as NYC's G&T programs.
Acceleration: moving through school faster than usual, either by skipping a grade or by taking one subject at a higher level. NAGC gives the example of a fifth grader taking sixth-grade math.
Honors, AP and dual enrollment in middle and high school.

What comes after elementary school?

This is the gap most families run into. Many districts focus gifted services on elementary school. In middle and high school, "gifted" often turns into a set of honors and AP classes, which challenge students in pace but rarely let them pursue a question of their own. The options outside school become much more important in grades 6 to 12.

Admitted students in the STEM Explorers Program work one-on-one with a mentor from a top-20 university. See if your child qualifies for the STEM Explorers Program →

Talent searches and above-grade-level testing

A talent search gives advanced students a test designed for older students. Because the test is harder, it shows how far ahead a student really is, which grade-level tests cannot do when a student gets a perfect score.

Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY): students in grades 2 to 8 can take an above-grade-level test through CTY's Talent Search to earn recognition and qualify for CTY programs. CTY's "Advanced CTY-Level" means test scores that reflect ability about four grade levels above the student's current grade.
Northwestern Center for Talent Development (CTD): offers above-grade-level assessments, including the CogAT for grades 2 to 9 and tests modeled on the PreACT and PSAT for grades 4 to 6, and on the ACT and SAT for grades 7 to 9.

Duke University's Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP), which many parents remember, closed permanently in 2020.

Summer programs for gifted students

CTY: summer day programs for grades 2 to 8, and three-week residential programs for grades 5 to 12 at select sites (grades 7 to 12 at all sites). Tentative 2027 sessions run June 27 to July 16 and July 18 to August 6.
Northwestern CTD: one-week day camps for pre-K to grade 5 in the Chicago area, and three-week day and residential programs at Northwestern for grades 6 to 12 with honors, AP and college-level courses.
Purdue GER²I: residential summer camps for grades 5 to 12 on Purdue's campus.
Belin-Blank Center (University of Iowa): programs for grades 3 to 11, including the one-week Blank Summer Institute for Iowa 7th and 8th graders nominated by their schools.
Math-specific camps: Epsilon Camp (entry ages 7 to 10), MathPath (ages 11 to 14) and Canada/USA Mathcamp (ages 13 to 18).

For more, see our guides to programs for gifted middle school students and summer programs for middle school students.

Online, one-on-one and built for advanced students: learn about the STEM Explorers Program →

Online programs for gifted students

Online programs remove the biggest barrier for many families: location.

CTY Online: courses for grades 2 to 12.
Northwestern CTD Online: enrichment for grades 3 to 8, and credit-bearing honors (grades 6 to 12) and AP courses (grades 9 to 12).
Stanford Online High School: a full independent school for grades 7 to 12. The 2027–28 application deadline is January 7, 2027.
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes: two-week, single-subject online courses for students currently in grades 8 to 11.
Art of Problem Solving and Beast Academy: advanced math for grades 5 to 12 and ages 6 to 13.
learnSTEM STEM Explorers Program (middle school) and STEM Research Program (high school): one-on-one research online with a mentor from a top-20 university, on your family's schedule, from anywhere. If your child wants an expert's full attention, at their own level rather than their grade level, these are the programs for them.

Our full guide to online programs for gifted students compares them in detail.

Schools and support for profoundly gifted students

Davidson Young Scholars: a free program of resources, online community and family support for profoundly gifted students ages 5 to 18 who score in the 99.9th percentile. More than 4,000 students are members.
Davidson Academy: a public school for profoundly gifted middle and high school students that groups students by ability rather than age. The campus school in Reno is for Nevada residents; the online option, launched in 2017, serves students anywhere in the U.S. and Canada. The 2027–28 application deadline is January 20, 2027.

Research: the option most programs leave out

Most gifted programs speed up the curriculum. Few give students the experience that matters most for advanced students later: working on an open question where nobody knows the answer yet. Research with a mentor does that. A gifted 12-year-old can run a real study, analyze real data or build real software, as long as the project is sized correctly. Our guide on how to get into research in middle school explains how to start, and research topics for high school students has ideas for older students.

For high school students: work one-on-one with a PhD mentor on your own research question. See if you qualify for the STEM Research Program →

How to choose a gifted program

NAGC suggests involving your child in the decision and asking what they want more time to learn about. Before you choose, ask:

Does it match the area of strength? A math-gifted student needs advanced math, not general enrichment.
How fast does it move? NAGC says instructional pacing and real-world connections are key to keeping gifted students engaged.
Will your child meet intellectual peers? For many gifted students, this matters as much as the content.
Does it lead somewhere? Credit-bearing courses, competitions, a finished project or a research paper last longer than a fun week.
Is the format realistic for your family? Residential, day, online, weekend or year-round.

Frequently asked questions

What are some programs for gifted and talented students? Johns Hopkins CTY, Northwestern CTD, Stanford Online High School and Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies, the Davidson Institute, Purdue GER²I and the Belin-Blank Center are among the best known. Each runs summer, online or school-year programs for advanced students.

What IQ does a child need to be in a gifted program? There is no single cutoff. Each district and program sets its own criteria, and NAGC says tests should not be the only measure. Program requirements range widely: CTY accepts scores at the 98th percentile for grade on specified tests, while Davidson Young Scholars serves students at the 99.9th percentile.

Who qualifies for gifted and talented? Students whose abilities in an area are well above their age peers and who need more than the regular classroom offers. Your state or district sets the specific criteria.

Do schools still have gifted and talented programs? Many do, but it depends on your state and district. Services are often strongest in elementary school and narrower in middle and high school.

What happens to gifted students after elementary school? School services often become honors and AP classes. Talent searches, summer programs, online courses, competitions and research with a mentor fill the gap.

Sources

About the STEM Explorers Program

We look for curious, motivated middle school students who want to go beyond the classroom; prior research experience is not required. Each admitted student works one-on-one with a STEM mentor from a top-20 university in nine hour-long Zoom sessions over 12 weeks, scheduled around the family's calendar. Students choose a topic with their mentor by week four, then create a research paper, software project or portfolio. At the end, each student receives a written evaluation from their mentor. High school students can apply to the STEM Research Program.

See if your child qualifies for the STEM Explorers Program → · Start your application to the STEM Research Program → · Questions about eligibility? Contact us →