Community Colleges: Definition, Purpose, and Evolution

Community colleges, vital components of the higher education landscape, offer accessible and affordable pathways to various educational and career goals. Situated in numerous communities across the nation, they serve as hubs for workforce education, economic development, and academic advancement. This article explores the definition, purpose, and evolution of community colleges, examining their role in addressing the social and economic needs of the nation.

Defining Community Colleges

A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. Community colleges, sometimes called junior colleges, technical colleges, two-year colleges, or city colleges, are primarily public institutions providing tertiary education, also known as continuing education, that focuses on certificates, diplomas, and associate degrees. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enrollment policy for students who have graduated from high school, also known as senior secondary school or upper secondary school. The term usually refers to a higher educational institution that provides workforce education and college transfer academic programs. Before the 1970s, community colleges in the United States were more commonly referred to as junior colleges. That term is still used at some institutions. Public community colleges primarily attract and accept students from the local community and are usually supported by local tax revenue.

Historical Context and Evolution

For over 100 years, the community college has been evolving as one of the most effective institutions of higher education in addressing the social and economic needs of the nation. During the 1950s and 1960s, there was general agreement that the community college was a comprehensive college designed to serve the multiple needs of a diverse student body through a variety of programs, including developmental, transfer, vocational, general, and community education. In the past few decades, that purpose has been changing as the developmental, general, and community education programs have been weakened and sometimes discontinued.

Core Missions of Community Colleges

Workforce Education and Training

Community colleges provide pathways to careers through workforce education and training aligned to in-demand sectors, and they serve as the primary hub for workforce and economic development in many communities. Training students for jobs has become the priority of the nation’s community colleges to the point that job training is rapidly becoming the mission of the community college. Intoxicated by the huge amounts of funding for preparing students for employment, community college leaders are expanding job training programs at lightning speed. And it is entirely appropriate that they do so because community colleges have the experience, philosophy, structures, partnerships, faculty, and locations to be the nation’s primary engine to prepare students for the workforce we need. Community colleges also participate as eligible training providers in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Title I workforce development system, and design and lead career and technical education programs.

Academic Transfer Programs

Helping students complete the first few years of postsecondary education so they could transfer to a university was the original purpose for creating the community college; that purpose has been an essential tenet of the community college ever since and is likely to remain so far into the future. Undergraduate students studying at community colleges can earn academic credit towards a bachelor’s degree. Earning academic credit at a community college, which is usually less expensive, can help lower the overall cost of a bachelor’s degree. Community colleges and 4-year colleges and universities often develop special agreements for the transfer of credits and degrees between the institutions. In this “2+2 process,” you can earn a bachelor’s degree with two years of community college, followed by two years of university study.

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Dual and Concurrent Enrollment Programs

In addition to providing high-quality occupational certificates and credentials, associate’s and, in some cases, bachelor’s degrees, community colleges are leaders in delivering dual or concurrent enrollment programs to high school students, with enrollment in such programs growing.

The Evolving Focus: Workforce vs. Liberal Education

In today’s community college, the primary focus of the institution has been narrowed to make transfer and workforce education the priority programs. But should transfer and workforce education be the primary purpose of the 21st century community college? As the new millennium got under way it became increasingly clear to community college leaders, policymakers, business and industry, and federal and state legislators that workforce development was not only a central mission of the community college; some saw it as a priority of the community college. When the majority of community college students are enrolled in workforce programs rather than liberal arts programs, and when workforce programs are funded extensively by state and federal agencies and by foundations over other community college programs, then it becomes even clearer where the priority is.

Funding and Priorities

And “funded extensively” is the rub. Community college leaders across the nation are thrilled that the Biden administration is calling on their institutions to play a leading role in training the workforce of the future. They appreciate the benefits of having a First Lady who is a working community college faculty member. economic vitality. All this positive attention on Democracy’s Colleges is a heavy thumb on the scale of the workforce side of their mission, shifting weight from more cosmopolitan concerns about preparing students to make a good life to a fervent focus on making a good living. In his first speech to Congress on April 28, 2021, President Biden made free community colleges a key part of his national agenda. According to Jaschik (2021), “President Biden wants $109 billion for two-year colleges, $80 billion addition for Pell Grants, $62 billion for retention and completion efforts, and $39 billion for two free years at minority-serving institutions for most students” (para. Funding for workforce education is woven into the nation’s defense policies, foreign policies, and social and economic policies. No aspect of higher education has been so fully embraced or supported with special acts as has workforce education. government has been increasing its annual allocations in the last several decades. Anthony Carnevale and colleagues, in the 2015 report, College Is Just the Beginning, cited federal job training support at $18 billion and certifications, apprenticeships, and other workforce training support at $47 billion. Carnevale et al. also pointed out that, “The United States spends $1.1 trillion on formal and informal postsecondary workforce education and training annually” (p. 3) and that two-year colleges were spending $60 billion a year on workforce education. In comparison, the support for liberal arts education through the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Endowment for the Arts-the most visible federal programs to support liberal education-has been minimal.

The Importance of Liberal Education

For thousands of years, human beings have failed to bridge the divide between workforce education and liberal education. Around a campfire at the mouth of Lascaux cave near what is today the village of Montignac in the Dordogne Valley of France, where some members of a Cro Magnon clan painted animals on the walls and other members ridiculed them for dabbling in “art” rather than dealing with the “real world” by training the young to sharpen spears and snare rabbits. The line between liberal education and workforce education probably appeared early in the evolution of the species, for it seems to reflect a division in human nature-heart versus head, nature versus nurture, right versus left, and doing versus being. (O’Banion & Miles, 2022, para. Every community college leader understands and agrees that training the workforce is one of the most important roles played by the community college. Is there any educator, parent, legislator, faith leader, entertainer, farmer, house cleaner, or industrialist who will contest the statement, “We want an education that will help our students make a good living and live a good life”? No one really disagrees with the common sense captured in this statement. All of us want an education for ourselves, our children, and our neighbors that will ensure that we are trained to engage in productive work and prepared to engage in a productive life. We understand intuitively that human beings do not live by bread alone, nor can life be enjoyed if there is no bread on the table. Workforce education is no longer in need of defense as it once was decades ago-just follow the money. That the liberal arts help people expand their minds is a common enough expression to be a cliché, but look more closely at what that means, not as abstract platitude, but as meaningful practice. On the most fundamental level, individuals work in exchange for life’s necessities-food, shelter, clothing-for themselves and their dependents. Most would agree, however, that basic needs go much further than survival to include matters of the heart and mind, the essence of being human. A liberal education exposes individuals to ideas and opportunities that help them explore the human condition and examine a vast array of possibilities on their way toward identifying their own dreams, honing their own talents, and fulfilling their own potential. The second major argument for liberal education is based on its necessity in preparing an informed citizenry to protect the basic tenets of a democracy. In a letter to Charles Yancey on January 6, 1816, Thomas Jefferson made his famous observation, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” (Looney, 2004, p. 328). Jefferson believed in the ability of the common person, through education, to make laws that would be fair to all and to implement those laws by governing fairly. This ideal is reflected throughout the Declaration of Independence and in the mission and values of the University of Virginia, which he founded. A third argument for liberal education is that it plays an important role in helping students make initial decisions about careers and career changes later in life. The common wisdom is that most people will change careers at least seven times; however, there is a big difference between changing jobs and changing careers, and most researchers point out that there is no real consensus based on reliable data about the number of such changes. One job search specialist notes, “Today, the average person changes jobs ten to fifteen times (with an average of 12 job changes) during his or her career” (Doyle, 2020, para. Cappelli (2013) reminds us, though, that, “The trouble is nobody can predict where the jobs will be-not the employers, not the schools, not the government officials who are making such loud calls for vocational training” (para. 8). So, if we do not even know where the jobs will be, and if workers change jobs and careers a number of times, on what basis will these decisions be made? The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) suggests that a liberal education is essential to preparing for and living a full life, for educating citizens for participation in a democracy, and for securing the necessary skills and attitudes required of a competent and globally competitive workforce (Schneider, 2014). Across the entire centennial year, we will probe higher education’s role in engaging students with the world’s “grand challenges” and “wicked problems” and in helping create a more just and sustainable future for the United States and for societies around the globe. . . . Together, we will connect the equity imperative to the US talent development imperative and explore both “what works” and how to advance what works in order to better prepare twenty-first-century students for work, life, and citizenship [emphasis added]. (para. For centuries, educators have struggled with attempts to reach the golden mean of helping students make a good living and live a good life, but they have usually done so by contrasting opposing forces-by making the case for one end of the continuum against the other. The arguments for an integrated education are usually framed in workforce education versus liberal education, hands versus heart, hard skills versus soft skills, or the skillful hand versus the cultured mind. The literature is full of these either/or arguments, although most thought leaders agree that what is needed is an integration of the two positions. The pathway forward to solving the dilemma and bridging the divide has been stated clearly for decades. The aim of a community college education must be not only to prepare students for productive careers, but also to take them beyond their narrow interests, broaden their perspectives, and enable them to live lives of dignity and purpose. . . . The community college, more than any other higher education institution, should overcome departmental narrowness by integrating technical and career studies with the liberal arts. (pp. A great democracy cannot be content to provide a horizon-expanding education for some and work skills, taught in isolation from the larger societal context, for everyone else . . . . It should not be liberal education for some and narrow or illiberal education for others. (p. In the 2016 monograph Bread and Roses: Helping Students Make a Good Living and Live a Good Life, the author proposed an Essential Education for all students as a way to bridge the divide between workforce and liberal education. Published as a guide for faculty and college leaders, the monograph included a brief history of workforce education and of general education, made a case for an Essential Education, and proposed seven pathways faculty could use to create an Essential Education for all students. The author also proposed that moving forward the terms “workforce education,” “liberal education,” and its corollary “general education,” commonly used in community colleges as a substitute for liberal education (although historically they have different meanings), be deleted from this conversation because those terms have become a bit pejorative. An Essential Education is defined as an integrated core of learning that includes and connects the key components from liberal education and workforce education to ensure that a student is equipped to earn a good living and live a good life (O’Banion, 2016). The goal is to design a new curriculum of Essential Education for all students, whether career- or transfer-oriented, that will provide a core experience, limited in scope, that will integrate key elements from liberal education and workforce education. Students who complete this core experience should be much better equipped to pursue career and/or transfer goals to success and completion. By requiring this core experience for all students as the initial college experience, the stress and uncertainty of choosing majors, programs, and courses will be diminished considerably. The current cafeteria model of a buffet of courses, in which students are required to choose one course from many options, will no longer dominate course offerings. In an ongoing national study of general education requirements in the nation’s community colleges, the author and his colleague Cindy Miles found that in large community colleges the mandatory number of courses to meet requirements for general education ranged from 8 to 13, and the total number of course offerings to meet the requirements ranged from 49 to 390. In a California community college, the catalog includes four different sets of requirements for general education degrees-already confusing for students. In the college’s general education requirements of six courses, students must choose from among 217 different courses (one course from 46 in natural sciences; one from 47 in social and behavioral sciences; one from 79 in art, humanities, and culture; and so on). In an Ohio community college, to meet a three-course general education requirement, students must choose one course from 46 different courses in the arts and humanities, one course from 36 in the social sciences, and one course from 48 in math and science. In contradiction to our deeply ingrained American love of freedom and choice, research in cognitive and behavioral science has repeatedly demonstrated that having too many choices is detrimental to decision making and even happiness (Iyengar, 2011; Schwartz, 2004). Schwartz notes how the following three key psychological factors negatively affect students when confronting confusing course selections: paradox of choice (having an excess of good options to choose from causes stress and inhibits decision-making rather than inducing happiness and satisfaction), analysis paralysis (stagnation in decision-making stemming from overanalyzing a surfeit of data), and anticipated regret (a prospective sense of regret that one might feel if they make a wrong choice). In The Shapeless River (Scott-Clayton, 2011), an evocative and evidentiary review of how the high-choice, low-structure curriculum model in many community colleges thwarts student decisions and progress, Judith Scott-Clayton of the Community College Research Center observed, “for many students at community colleges, finding a path to degree completion is the equivalent of navigating a river on a dark night” (p. 1). She underscored how it particularly affects vulnerable populations: “This unstru…

Benefits of Attending Community Colleges

Affordability

One of the biggest draws of community college is the cost. In 2024, tuition and fees totaled $3,990 for an in-state learner compared to $11,260 for an in-state learner at a four-year college [2]. Some community colleges also offer free tuition for in-state students who meet specific requirements. Considering the total cost of attending a four-year school, community colleges can be beneficial if your ultimate goal is a bachelor’s degree. They can help reduce the amount you pay for the first two years of your four-year degree.

Small Class Sizes

Some of the core courses you’re expected to complete at a four-year institution may have a large class size. In contrast, class sizes at community colleges tend to be smaller, many with fewer than 30 students [4]. Community colleges tend to enroll fewer students, so they usually offer smaller classes, which may be beneficial in terms of getting to know your professors, instructors, and peers.

Flexibility

The majority of students at community college work. To enable them to complete their coursework around their other responsibilities, schools tend to offer more flexible class schedules. Community colleges typically have more night and weekend classes to suit students’ needs.

Support for Nontraditional Students

Community college students tend to be slightly older than students who attend a four-year institution. As of 2024, the average age of students enrolled in community colleges was 27, with 35 percent of all students falling between 22 and 39 [2]. Community colleges also enroll a high percentage of first-generation college students and single parents. Community colleges offer a variety of support services and cross-cultural programs, including tutoring, advising, career planning, study skills, and counseling-many designed specifically for international students.

Financial Aid

In the US, you can apply for federal financial aid as long as you have earned your high school diploma and are applying to an accredited program, including many degrees and certificate programs. Financial aid comes in the form of scholarships, grants, work-study, and more, and it can help pay for the cost of education.

Professional Development

Many community colleges work with local businesses to ensure that students learn in-demand, career-relevant skills through degree or certificate programs. They may even have established relationships to assist in local job placement after graduation.

Individual Courses

When you want to learn more about a subject or strengthen your skills in an area, you can take individual courses at a community college without enrolling in a degree or certificate program. These learning opportunities can be an affordable way to gain valuable subject knowledge and skills development for a semester.

Community Colleges Around the World

Australia

In Australia, the term "community college" refers to small private businesses running short (e.g. six weeks) courses generally of a self-improvement or hobbyist nature. Equivalent to the American notion of community colleges are Technical and Further Education colleges or TAFEs; these are institutions regulated mostly at state and territory level. TAFEs and other providers carry on the tradition of adult education, which was established in Australia around the mid-19th century, when evening classes were held to help adults enhance their numeracy and literacy skills.[1] Most Australian universities can also be traced back to such forerunners, although obtaining a university charter has always changed their nature.

Canada

In Canada, colleges are adult educational institutions that provide higher education and tertiary education, and grant certificates and diplomas. Alternatively, Canadian colleges are often called "institutes" or "polytechnic institutes". As well, in Ontario, the 24 colleges of applied arts and technology have been mandated to offer their own stand-alone degrees as well as to offer joint degrees with universities through "articulation agreements" that often result in students emerging with both a diploma and a degree. In terms of academic pathways, Canadian colleges and universities collaborate with each other with the purpose of providing college students the opportunity to academically upgrade their education.

India

In India, 98 community colleges are recognized by the University Grants Commission. The courses offered by these colleges are diplomas, advance diplomas and certificate courses.

Malaysia

Community colleges in Malaysia are a network of educational institutions whereby vocational and technical skills training could be provided at all levels for school leavers before they entered the workforce.

Philippines

In the Philippines, a community school functions as elementary or secondary school at daytime and towards the end of the day convert into a community college.

United Kingdom and Ireland

Community colleges roughly equate to Further Education (FE) colleges in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The term "community college" is rarely used in the United Kingdom.

Alternatives to Community Colleges

If you’re interested in furthering your education, there are other options to consider if a two-year community college doesn't fit your needs.

Online College

If flexibility is important to you, then earning your degree from an online college or online degree program may be a better option. Online degrees are available in various majors and are sometimes more affordable than in-person degrees.

Professional Certificate

When you’re interested in skills development, you might want to consider enrolling in a Professional Certificate or certification program. You can gain career-ready skills through these short programs, which are beneficial when you’re interested in beginning a new career or advancing in your current role.

Apprenticeship

Many students attend community college to learn a trade skill, which can also be accomplished by finding an apprenticeship. In an apprenticeship, you’ll shadow a professional and gain real-time training.

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