Junior college
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the United States, a junior college (informally, a juco) is a two-year post-secondary school whose main purpose is to provide academic, vocational and professional education. The highest certificate offered by such schools is usually an associate's degree, although many junior college students continue their education at a university or college, transferring some or all of the credit earned at the junior college toward the degree requirements of the four-year school.
Junior colleges originated in the Chautauqua movement in late 19th century New York State. Around the turn of the century, groups from established colleges and universities would travel around the nation, visiting small towns that did not have access to upper-level schools, offering eight to ten-week courses on subjects such as the arts, science and literature.
The term junior college has historically referred to all non-bachelor's degree granting post-secondary schools, but over the last few decades many public junior colleges, which typically aim to serve a local community, have replaced "junior" with "community" in their names. This may give the impression that a junior college must be a private school, but only a small percentage of two-year institutions are private[1], many public community colleges continue to be called "junior college", and the two terms are used interchangeably in casual speech.
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[edit] Cultural connotations
Junior colleges have long had to contend with a reputation β deserved or not β for low academic standards (as evidenced by the pejorative "high school with ashtrays"). To some extent this is inherent in the junior college mission of providing practical education to students who for various reasons fall outside the typical profile of a four-year college student (for example, someone who has graduated high school and spent several years working in a relatively unskilled job). However, a junior college graduate with good grades can generally transfer to a four-year school and go on to obtain a full bachelor's degree.
Certain junior colleges also serve as incubators for college athletes, particularly in basketball. A talented player who would not meet the academic standards of a major college program may be able to play for two years in junior college, establishing an academic record in the process, and then transfer to the major college. As with many practices in college sports, this practice has been somewhat controversial.
