Community college - Definition and Overview

In Canada and the United States, a community college, sometimes called a junior college, is an educational institution providing post-secondary education and lower-level tertiary education, granting certificates, diplomas, and associate's degrees. The name derives from the fact that community colleges primarily accept, and attract, students from the local community.

Community colleges have "open admission"; that is, anyone may be admitted. They are supported with public funds, and their tuition costs substantially less than that of a traditional four-year public or private college or university. For these reasons, low-income students and students not yet academically prepared for a university curriculum are attracted to community colleges. Community college students can range in age from teenagers in their junior and senior years of high school to tranfer students in mid-20s, to working adults taking classes at night to complete a degree. Though juniors and seniors from high schools are usually allowed, it is technically possible for all K-12 students under the policy, commonly known as "Concurrent Enrollment".

Community college's generally offer both two-year study programs towards an Associate's degree or diploma or a college transfer program in which a student takes necessary courses needed to qualify for admission to a four-year college or university. Thus, for students who wishes to obtain a bachelor's degree at a four-year college but fail to meet academic standards for attending college upon graduation from high school can use the community college system to obtain the necessary requirements to attend the college of their choice. Community colleges also offer certificates for completing vocational training in a wide variety of technical or otherwise specialized fields such as nursing. A certificate generally takes less than two years to complete, and students who earn a certificate usually enter straight into the workforce.

Community colleges also offer a number of services to other members of the community, such as job placement, adult continuing-education classes, and developmental classes for children.

List of community colleges (Incomplete)

Colleges are listed in alphabetical order by state/location, then name:

United States

Arizona

Arkansas

• National Park Community College

California

Illinois

Iowa

• Hawkeye Community College
• Indian Hills Community College

Kansas

• Cloud County Community College
• Johnson County Community College
• Kansas City Kansas Community College

Kentucky

Maryland

See also The Community Colleges Of Maryland (http://www.mdcommunitycolleges.com/)

Massachusetts

• Bristol Community College
• Bunker Hill Community College
• North Shore Community College

Michigan

Missouri

• Metropolitan Community Colleges of Kansas City

New Jersey

New York

Nebraska

• Metro Community College

North Carolina

• Central Piedmont Community College
• Craven Community College
• Isothermal Community College

Texas

• Austin Community College
• Collin County Community College District
• Dallas County Community College District
• Houston Community College

Virginia

• J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College

Washington

Wisconsin

• Chippewa Valley Technical College
• Madison Area Technical College
• Milwaukee Area Technical College

Canada

Manitoba

• Red River College

New Brunswick

• New Brunswick Community College (various campuses)

Newfoundland and Labrador

• College of the North Atlantic (various campuses)

Nova Scotia

• Nova Scotia Community College (various campuses)

Ontario

See also List of Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology for background.

Prince Edward Island

• Holland College (various campuses)

See also

• Ontario Colleges
• Community colleges in New York State

External links

• The Instructional Role of the Two-Year College Learning Resources Center (http://www.libraryinstruction.com/lrc.html)
• The Economic Outcomes of Community College Attendance (http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-3/economic.htm)
• Building an Instructional Framework for Effective Community College Developmental Education (http://www.ericdigests.org/2004-1/building.htm)
• The Role of Scholarship in the Community College (http://www.ericdigests.org/1992-5/role.htm)
• Internationalizing the Community College: Examples of Success (http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9217/college.htm)

• Community Colleges in the United States (http://www.50states.com/cc/)