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

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

From Slate • Apr. 19, 2026

All five of the team’s starters began their careers at other universities, from Arizona Western junior college to North Carolina.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026

Since he was still in the transfer portal and because he has already graduated, Woods is the rare case, outside of an international player or junior college player, that qualifies to be a midseason addition.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025

He started at Troy in 2020-21, before taking the junior college route at Northwest Florida State Community College during the 2021-22 season.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025

He passed Sunset Park once again, and more houses, and the junior college and the tennis courts, and the picnickers, who now sat waiting for the evening fireworks.

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien