junior college

noun

1. a collegiate institution offering courses only through the first one or two years of college instruction and granting a certificate of title instead of a degree.
2. a division of a college, university, or university system offering general courses during the first two years of instruction or fulfilling administrative duties applicable to freshmen and sophomores.

junior college

noun

1. an educational establishment providing a two-year course that either terminates with an associate degree or is the equivalent of the freshman and sophomore years of a four-year undergraduate course
2. the junior section of a college or university

Word History and Origins

Origin of junior college¹

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900

Example Sentences

The 2020-21 Jerry West Award winner started his career at a junior college in Florida before joining the Oregon Ducks for the 2019-20 season.

From FiveThirtyEight

He didn’t provide a training facility for years, forcing the team to practice at the gym of a local junior college.

From ProPublica

Major League Baseball teams can draft players who have graduated high school but have yet to play in college or junior college.

From Washington Post

If you really love the game, you may have to go to a prep school or a junior college.

From Washington Post

So he started coaching at the junior college level, where he thrived, before moving up to Division I and then onto the staffs at major-conference programs.

From Washington Post

Ruettiger struggled to even get admitted to Notre Dame, laboring through junior college where he was diagnosed as dyslexic.

From The Daily Beast

Also, although I love my job, I am thinking of trying to get a higher paying job at junior college or university.

From The Daily Beast

A second junior college was established in 1925 at the school of forestry in Bottineau.

From Project Gutenberg

They go to, one of them goes to junior college, I believe, and the other one goes to high school.

From Project Gutenberg