Community College Leadership and Technology

Historical And Contemporary Roles Of Community Colleges In America

Community colleges have been referred to as a uniquely American invention (Diener, 1986; Thelin, 2004) because they provide training and education that are as critical to the economic strength of our country as they are egalitarian in providing for the needs of the traditionally under-educated. Community colleges have typically served three major purposes. First, these institutions have met the local needs of their community by delivering adult education programs, education outreach services, vital vocational training for specific occupations, and general education courses and developmental preparation necessary for students to transfer to four-year universities (Rhoads & Valadez, 1996). Beyond these primary roles, the American community college has evolved to incorporate the unrestricted duty to expand access to higher education for underrepresented populations and to make college attendance a real possibility for those who may otherwise have gone un-served (Cohen & Brawer, 2008).