Community College



         


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 (via Washington's Running Start program) to working adults taking classes at night to complete a degree.

A typical program at a community college involves two years' study leading to an Associate's degree or diploma, though well over 50% of the students attending a community college straight out of high school are able to transfer to a four-year college or university without actually completing the degree because they have met the Minimum Course Requirements of the college or university that they wish to attend. Upon successful completion, students may transfer to a four-year college or university to obtain a bachelor's degree. Certificates commonly cover a wide variety of vocational training in technical or otherwise specialized fields. 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.

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List of community colleges

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

See also: Community colleges in New York State

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Canada


See also: Ontario Colleges

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