Chapter 8: America’s Most Adaptable Institutions: Community Colleges

Considered a uniquely American invention, historians and scholars point to the founding of Joliet Junior College as the genesis of what is known today as community colleges. In 1901, University of Chicago President William Rainey Harper and Joliet High School principal J. Stanley Brown coordinated efforts to establish Joliet Junior College (Baber et al., 2019). Other junior colleges began appearing in the early 1900s as extensions of high schools for the sole purpose of preparing students to transfer to four-year institutions (Meier, 2018; Thelin, 2019). This chapter begins with a historical overview and evolving mission, function, and purpose of community colleges over time. We continue with a description of the organization and culture of community colleges and then highlight the unique student diversity that exists within them. Next, we highlight the professional context by describing the role of faculty and student services in community colleges. Finally, we discuss the role of community colleges in addressing college completion and future considerations for community colleges.