What is a junior college?

A junior college, often also called a community college, is a school that may offer a diverse number of subjects, certification programs, and Associates in Arts (also called Associates of Arts) degrees. Essentially the junior college can function as the first two years of college study, with many students transferring to four-year colleges in their junior year. Sometimes the junior college offers certification programs, which may or may not be part of a four-year course of study. Many people get licensure for different specialties in medicine, like licensed vocational nursing (LVN) or studies in radiology that might be required to become an x-ray technician or a sonographer. Additionally, depending upon the junior college, specialty programs in auto mechanics, computer programming, business management, electrical work, or police or fire department work may be available. What is wonderful about most public junior colleges is that they are generally the least expensive way to either ...  more

a community college, though it's really a subset of that) is a school which offers only two-year or shorter educational degrees and certificates. Community and junior college have no dorms; students live off-campus.  more