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

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

Due to the recent ruling in the Diego Pavia case, the season that Woods spent playing junior college does not count against his five years of eligibility.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025

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

But for the immediate future, her plans included going to the junior college in town, Odessa College.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger