ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how the community college has grown and evolved starting with the dreams of J. Stanley Brown and William Rainey Harper. Joliet Junior College trustee William Glasscock asserted, “When Junior grows up and has gray hair, the neighbors still call him Junior”. The most significant expansion of community colleges in their history as well as an accompanying increase in the enrollment of women and minorities took place during the 1960s. The baby boomers, who swelled the community college ranks in the 1960s and 1970s, are back as they near or reach retirement; Hispanic student attendance is on the rise; and many colleges are becoming active in drawing international students, continuing to ensure a diverse community of learners. Through the 1980s and into the 1990s, the community colleges built in the 1960s were largely able to accommodate the rise in the number of students who sought to attend college.
