Texas Association-Community

Community colleges, initially known as junior colleges, are higher learning institutions established in the United States (Nces.ed.gov, 2011). Community colleges history is unlike the renowned European tradition connected with American four-year universities and colleges. In 1901, William Rainey Harper (president of the University of Chicago) and J. Stanley Brown (principal of Joliet's public high school, Illinois) initiated the process of establishing a junior college. Harper believed that secondary schools could provide their students with the first two years of college. The universities were then left with an obligation to concentrate on students in the junior and senior years. Brown was inspired by Harper to establish Joliet Junior College that added fifth- and sixth-year courses to high school programs later (Texas Association-Community). Currently, Joliet Junior College is a public institution that has been operational for over a century, and its main objective was to facilitate access to higher education, especially for less financially stable students (A Policy Analysis on Community College Funding, Texas, Don). C. Hudson, 2008)." In 1947, the Texas Association of Community Colleges got formed with a purpose to enhance educational opportunities within the community colleges in Texas. The association began as the Texas Association of Junior Colleges after presidents and deans from seven community colleges in Texas assembled to form the association in 1924 (Tacc.org, 2019). The association has since grown to include various community colleges, and it operates as a multi-faceted organization that coordinates communication between participating colleges and institutions and lobbies for favorable legislation.