junior college

American  

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.

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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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Etymology

Origin of junior college

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900

Example Sentences

The only school that expressed any interest was Hocking College, a junior college in the middle of Athens County, Ohio.

From The Wall Street Journal

Pavia is a 24-year-old who didn’t get a Division I offer coming out of high school and instead enrolled at junior college New Mexico Military Institute, where he played for two seasons.

From The Wall Street Journal

Keiling said it’s not clear, with the legal turmoil around junior college eligibility, whether Fitzgerald could get a waiver for another season at USC after this one.

From Los Angeles Times

Hutchinson Community College, a junior college in Hutchinson, Kan., was one of the only places to give him an opportunity.

From Los Angeles Times

Wingfield — after two seasons at a junior college, one at New Mexico and another spent at Purdue — was seeking to raise his profile in his final season of eligibility.

From Los Angeles Times