IMACS Online Courses

About eIMACS

eIMACS, the online learning division of the Institute for Mathematics & Computer Science (IMACS), gives students a competitive edge by teaching them how to think critically using logic and reasoning. Our courses are open to all secondary school students who pass our IMACS Aptitude Test, regardless of age or math experience. Middle and High School students who take our online math and computer science courses regularly go on to outperform their classmates at top universities such as Harvard and MIT. Our interactive courses are developed by the IMACS Curriculum Development Group and draw on an average of over 25 years' experience that includes an extensive amount of time teaching gifted children in a classroom setting.

IMACS was established in 1993, and the first eIMACS online course was offered in 1998. eIMACS is based in Plantation, Florida, and serves students from across the US and around the world, including gifted and talented students, homeschooled students, students without local access to AP® Computer Science, and students who want to study advanced math and computer science at their own pace. Numerous professional educators and virtual schools such as the Florida Virtual School license our online math and computer science courses, including our AP® Java curriculum. Click here for a listing of partner schools that use our curriculum.

Online Courses

The eIMACS curriculum is designed to keep talented secondary school and undergraduate students intellectually challenged and engaged. Comprehensive online courses include:


Our mathematics courses focus on logical reasoning, and our computer science courses emphasize computational thinking. Other than a student being at least middle or high school age and passing the IMACS Aptitude Test, there are no specific age restrictions or prerequisites for eIMACS courses.

Each student in our university-level courses and our AP® CS course is assigned a principal eIMACS instructor, who is available for questions through the eIMACS Message Center or by email. All assignments and tests are completed online. Scores are shown in a student's online gradebook so that parents may monitor progress.

Tuition or registration fees for individual students enrolling in our online courses are listed in the table below. Professional educators interested in licensing our curriculum for their classrooms should contact eIMACS at info@eimacs.com for current pricing.

Advanced Mathematical Logic TrackTuitionEnrollment Term
Introduction to Logic I$98540 Weeks
Introduction to Logic II$98540 Weeks
Set Theory$98540 Weeks
Modern Computer Science Track Tuition Enrollment Term
University Computer Science I$98540 Weeks
University Computer Science II$98540 Weeks
AP® Computer Science$98540 Weeks
AP Exam Preparation Registration Enrollment Term
Be Prepared for the AP® Computer Science Exam$24.95One Year
Be Prepared for the AP® Calculus Exam$24.95One Year

While our tuition is comparable to the cost at other institutions that offer online courses, eIMACS provides a superior experience because:

  1. Our courses use innovative material designed from the outset specifically for gifted and talented students rather than standard, accelerated material, and
  2. Our instructors provide individualized and ongoing support through the eIMACS Message Center and by email.

Looking for challenging and fun math and computer enrichment classes for bright elementary school students? Visit www.imacs.org/start.

Looking for high school level courses for talented middle school-aged children? Visit www.EMFmath.com.

How to Apply

eIMACS courses are designed for middle and high school students who demonstrate a high degree of mathematical ability, regardless of age or math experience. To be accepted into an eIMACS course, a student must first pass the IMACS Aptitude Test. Parents may use this online form to register a child for the test. There is no cost and no commitment or obligation.

Essential History

eIMACS is part of a detailed and storied history. Below is a condensed version covering the essential developments:

1960: National Science Foundation Institute

Burt Kaufman (who went on to become IMACS principal founder) attended a six-week National Science Foundation Institute at the University of Notre Dame as part of a class of 75 practicing teachers together with 25 gifted high school mathematics students.

Burt Kaufman (who went on to become IMACS principal founder) attended a six-week National Science Foundation Institute at the University of Notre Dame as part of a class of 75 practicing teachers together with 25 gifted high school mathematics students. In Burt's words, the high school students "were quantum leaps ahead of us in knowledge, interest and ability to learn. They made us look bad and humbled us." Inspired by this experience, he decided, "If there's an opportunity in my life for me to create a curriculum similar to what I'm studying now, I want to." Thus began the journey that continues today with IMACS.

1963-1966: Mathematical Logic

While serving as Mathematics Coordinator at the then-experimental Nova High School in Davie, Florida, Burt Kaufman was charged with the task of designing a multi-track secondary school mathematics curriculum.

While serving as Mathematics Coordinator at the then-experimental Nova High School in Davie, Florida, Burt Kaufman was charged with the task of designing a multi-track secondary school mathematics curriculum. The textbooks chosen for the fast-track students were proving to be too lacking in rigor to be used effectively with pre-college students, so Burt and a colleague began the challenging task of rewriting the texts for a younger audience. A number of American mathematicians and mathematics educators were recruited to act as advisers, a role in which they would continue to serve for decades to come. It was during this period that the idea of starting students off with a solid foundation in mathematical logic took hold. The expectation was that early familiarity with logic and logical reasoning would so simplify the learning of the mathematics normally taught in secondary school that a significant amount of time would become available for learning more advanced material.

1966-1974: Comprehensive School Mathematics Program (CSMP)

In 1966, Burt Kaufman moved to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, to continue the curriculum development project he began at Nova.

In 1966, Burt Kaufman moved to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, to continue the curriculum development project he began at Nova. The project would come to be known as the Comprehensive School Mathematics Program (CSMP). During this period, Burt met a number of eminent European mathematics education reformers and invited them to join the CSMP advisory group. In 1967, the Central Midwestern Regional Educational Laboratory (CEMREL), a federally funded educational research and development center, agreed to take CSMP as one of its projects. CSMP generated quite a stir in the mathematics education community, prompting several more notable mathematicians and educators from Europe and the US to join the effort. In 1970, Edward Martin (who went on to co-found IMACS with Burt) joined CSMP straight out of the University of Cambridge, England.

As this international team of mathematicians and mathematics educators came together under Burt's leadership, the material that was to become the Elements of Mathematics (EM) series (and the foundation for the IMACS mathematics enrichment curriculum, including most of the Logic for Mathematics courses offered through eIMACS) began to take shape.

1974-1983: Elements of Mathematics (EM)

In 1974, Edward Martin became Senior Editor of the EM series in addition to maintaining responsibilities that included teaching students, training teachers on the EM materials at CSMP's summer workshops, and providing ongoing teacher support. The following year, CSMP moved from Carbondale to St. Louis, Missouri, where CEMREL was located.

In 1974, Edward Martin became Senior Editor of the EM series in addition to maintaining responsibilities that included teaching students, training teachers on the EM materials at CSMP's summer workshops, and providing ongoing teacher support. The following year, CSMP moved from Carbondale to St. Louis, Missouri, where CEMREL was located. In 1978, with CEMREL's help, Burt Kaufman set up the first federally funded Project MEGSSS (Mathematics Education for Gifted Secondary School Students) in St. Louis to reach a middle and high school audience of much broader geographic scope. By 1980, he had reached his immediate goal of establishing a functioning model of EM usage. (Project MEGSSS of St. Louis continues today as a tuition-based, not-for-profit company.)

Also by this time, CSMP's developmental work at the elementary-school level had essentially been completed. Burt felt that the time had come for him to relinquish the reins of leadership at CSMP and move on to the next challenge, namely that of developing possible models of use of the EM materials. He returned to South Florida in 1981 where his task would be to persuade a large, centralized school district with numerous middle and high schools to establish a similar program — a second Project MEGSSS in Broward County.

1983-1993: Project MEGSSS

Burt Kaufman and several of Broward's top mathematics teachers whom he recruited welcomed the first class of MEGSSS students in January 1983.

Burt Kaufman and several of Broward's top mathematics teachers whom he recruited welcomed the first class of MEGSSS students in January 1983. In 1985, Burt was rejoined by Edward Martin, who had just led a two-year mathematics curriculum development project based at the University of Bath in England. Ed's colleague at Bath, computer science specialist Iain Ferguson, also joined the team to develop the MEGSSS computer science curriculum. Following insightful interactions with Dan Friedman, professor of Computer Science at Indiana University, the decision was made to design the course using the programming language Scheme. (This curriculum evolved into what now serves as the basis for the University Computer Science courses offered through eIMACS.)

Project MEGSSS of Broward County thrived for 10 successful years, turning out class after class of students who went on to study at some of the nation's most prestigious universities. A statewide budget crisis in 1992 forced the elimination of public funding for various special programs, including MEGSSS. Parents formed a not-for-profit organization, the Project MEGSSS Foundation, to provide funds for the continued operation of the the high school portion of the program through the 1992-93 school year, whereupon the School Board of Broward County definitively wound up the project.

1993-present: IMACS

At the insistence of the parents' group, Burt Kaufman — together with his son, Terry, and his colleagues, Edward Martin and Iain Ferguson — established IMACS in July 1993 with the goal of making the Project MEGSSS curricula in mathematics and computer science available within the private sector.

At the insistence of the parents' group, Burt Kaufman — together with his son, Terry, and his colleagues, Edward Martin and Iain Ferguson — established IMACS in July 1993 with the goal of making the Project MEGSSS curricula in mathematics and computer science available within the private sector. From humble beginnings of just 37 students in South Florida, IMACS now serves more than 4,500 students in over 15 countries, more than half of whom are distance-learning students. Our AP® Java course reaches hundreds of new online students each year through several large virtual schools, including the Florida Virtual School. In addition to AP® Computer Science A, IMACS course offerings have expanded to include enrichment classes in electronics and chess, Hi-Tech Summer Camp, IMACS Homeschool Program, and our Elements of Mathematics: Foundations (EMF) program.

Terry serves as the IMACS president, while Ed and Iain serve as Senior Curriculum Developers for IMACS mathematics and computer science, respectively. In 1998, Ted Sweet, who was a member of the first Broward County graduating MEGSSS class and who earned his Ph.D. in Probability from the University of California at Los Angeles, joined IMACS and now serves as our Director of Curriculum Development. Burt Kaufman passed away in 2007 following a years-long battle with cancer. His sense of humility and passion for serving mathematically talented children continue to inspire all of us at IMACS today.