junior college

American  

noun

• junior colleges
  plural

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.

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junior college British  

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• junior colleges
  plural

Etymology

Origin of junior college

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

junior college

She saw a Pinterest post with the saying during her first year in junior college and it resonated with her.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026

He was sitting in the mid-90s as a high-schooler in the suburbs of Kansas City and reached 100 while pitching in junior college, as he grew into his 6-foot-7 frame.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

His brother was a standout at Dos Pueblos and plays junior college baseball.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026

A Jordanian company had gotten him admitted to a junior college in a tiny town in Oklahoma.

From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2026

I had returned to Baltimore two years earlier, after I’d been accepted at Johns Hopkins University to complete my undergraduate degree, which I’d begun in junior college at Valley Forge.

From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore