junior college
Americannoun
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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.
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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.
noun
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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
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the junior section of a college or university
Etymology
Origin of junior college
An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
He ended up at Northwest Florida State, a junior college in Niceville, Fla., before signing with Auburn.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 2, 2026
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 • Oct. 20, 2025
After returning from Vietnam, he’d moved to Washington, DC, and enrolled in junior college.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
