>Throughout my college been told that every function should have only one exit point and thats how I had to draw my logical schemas( fortran and pascal yeah!) but I have always favored early exit since it made the program easier to read.

Exactly what I am saying. Colleges, books etc say 'one exit point'. OTOH real world developers' experience show that 'multiple exit point' is easier to read and maintain for some (if not many or all) developers.
Cetin