community college

American  

noun

1. a nonresidential junior college established to serve a specific community and typically supported in part by local government funds.

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community college British  

noun

1. another term for village college

2. a nonresidential college offering two-year courses of study

3. an adult education college with trade classes

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Etymology

Origin of community college

An Americanism dating back to 1945–50

Example Sentences

The contractor also started working with Southern Arkansas University Tech, a two-year community college in Camden, to ramp up apprenticeships, so it could more readily hire people who had never worked at a factory.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026

He did a year of community college, worked as a water-meter reader and met his wife working at Applebee’s before moving to Chicago to do stand-up, then to New York in 2004.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026

Somewhere between Rue and Cassie on the desperation scale sits Elle Fanning’s Margo Millet, an eager community college student whose money troubles start when she falls for one of the oldest tricks in the book.

From Salon • May 4, 2026

Selivra spent part of his childhood in foster care and, as a teenager, was homeless and slept in his car for more than a year before enrolling in community college, he told The Times.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

He'd left Lynbrook for a program called "middle college," where high school seniors could take classes at the local community college, and his absence finally allowed me to focus on other guys.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi