Abstract
Community colleges have served as a way to deliver general education initially and then later training programs for many who were not able to attend traditional colleges. In this way they served as a point of access to postsecondary education since their inception. The history of community colleges has been documented extensively (Baker, 1994; Brint and Karabel, 1989; Cohen and Brawer, 1989; Goodchild and Wechsler, 1997). Expansion of these colleges in simple numbers has grown since the first community college was established in Joliet, Illinois, in 1901 (Deegan and Tillery, 1985) to more than 1,700 today (NCES, 2010). We know from these and other accounts that community colleges provided access for millions all over the United States (Cohen, 2001).
Author’s Note: Appreciation is expressed to the reviewers who provided feedback and suggested edits. Also, gratitude is expressed to Ranee Tomlin, Ryan Barone, Jacquelynn Rich, and to all my former doctoral students in the Higher Education Program in the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver for assistance with data collection.
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© 2014 Lester F. Goodchild, Richard W. Jonsen, Patty Limerick, and David A. Longanecker
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Lovell, C.D. (2014). The Growth of Community Colleges in the West: Conditions and Public Policy Challenges. In: Goodchild, L.F., Jonsen, R.W., Limerick, P., Longanecker, D.A. (eds) Public Policy Challenges Facing Higher Education in the American West. Higher Education & Society. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137403780_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137403780_8
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