Community or Junior Colleges

History

For more than a century, two-year colleges have been part of the American higher education landscape. J. Stanley Brown, superintendent of Joliet Township High School, and William Rainey Harper, president of the University of Chicago, urged the creation of the first two-year junior college in 1901, arguing that a separate and discrete junior college providing the first two years of collegiate education or vocational training might attract students who otherwise would not continue their education beyond high school and further might induce some students to terminate their collegiate tenure after two years of study to enter the workforce. These educators theorized that this approach might also appeal to graduate and professional schools, because the student body from which they could then recruit would be more [Page 101]select. Brown and Harper's vision took hold in America, and over the ensuing decades, two-year colleges began to proliferate around the nation.

In the years following World War II, more two-year institutions were established when Congress passed the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, or G. I. Bill, to support returning veterans who required retraining to prepare for civilian jobs. The massive influx of nontraditional students entering the higher education system as a result of this legislation required a substantive expansion of the system, thus stimulating the need for additional community colleges. According to Frederick Rudolph, the implementation of the G. I. Bill in the postwar United States demonstrated the relationship between education and employment and thus helped to generate support for the junior college not only as an institution providing general education but also as a source of vocational training.

In 1947, a study by the President's Commission on Higher Education (the Truman Commission) suggested that half of the country's young people could benefit from formal education through Grade 14 and further popularized the term “community college,” a new title developed due to the expanded role of the institution. The 1960s witnessed the most significant expansion of two-year colleges, as the notion of accessible higher education for all who aspired to pursue it took root across the nation. During the decade enrollments skyrocketed with participation by baby boomers, and 457 two-year colleges were created at an astounding average of one new college per week. A series of grants through the Kellogg Junior College Leadership Programs helped train many community college leaders during this decade. Growth continued during the 1970s, when many young men enrolled to escape the Vietnam-era draft. The 1970s also marked a shift to faculty development that focused on more instructional training for the unique student body and mission of community colleges. During the 1980s, community colleges began to work more closely with high schools to prepare students for vocational and technical two-year programs.

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