Community college

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The term Community College is used almost exclusively in the United States and Canada to describe an alternative post-secondary educational institution; similar institutions in other regions are known as Junior, technical, vocational or workers’ colleges. Depending upon location and philosophical mandate these establishments vary in programs and services they offer as well as the type of students they attract. Despite these variations, all such institutions share many commonalities; smaller in size and more focused on a core set of programs than traditional four-year universities, community colleges offer lower-level tertiary education, grant certificates, diplomas and sometimes offer Associate degrees.

See discussion of the word college.

History

Community colleges are phenomena that began in North America before becoming widespread throughout the world. Though there have been numerously different reasons for the creation of each individual institution, there appears to be general issues affecting the local and national community that contributed to the implementing of community Colleges. Such events as urbanization, industrialization, and economic development all lead to environments favoring community colleges.

In America, community colleges began as extensions of high schools, like the first established in Joliet, Illinois in 1901. These first colleges tended to be small, usually less than 200 students and focused on a liberal arts education with the goal of transferring students to four-year institutions. During the Great Depression, the need for developing a workforce, especially composed of “semiprofessionals” that were seen as individuals who could advance past high school but not attain bachelor level degrees, gained national attention. A move for more public two-year institutions along with a trend to separate such institutions from high schools and affiliate with higher education gained momentum, and junior colleges became encouraged to develop more credibility through the creation of professional criteria and use of scientific methods.

It was not until after WWII that community colleges became an important factor of higher education in America. The educational opportunities that the G.I. Bill presented, coupled with the rise in adult education in response to the demand for skilled jobs and President Truman’s 1947 Commission, which suggested a network of public community colleges that would provide education to a diverse group of students at little or no cost along with serving community needs through a comprehensive mission, all helped to foster the role of the community college. The Kellogg Junior College Leadership Program produced a series of grants during the 1960s and 1970s that helped to keep community colleges funded in addition to meeting the needs of the exponential increase in enrollment from the baby boom generation.

During the reconstruction of Europe after World War II, as economies and industries started to stabilize once again, junior and technical colleges became prominent. In The United Kingdom, community colleges were used to describe a system in which 16 to 18 year olds received training and adults received part-time education. In Germany, cooperation between the government, industry and educational sectors (especially after the fall of the Berlin Wall) gave rise to vocational schools called Berufsschulen. Some systems in Europe existed before WWII. In Finland, junior and vocational schools became an outgrowth of folk high schools, a Scandinavian tradition that dates back to the nineteenth century, wherein adults came to take classes for any period of time.