A description of how public colleges and universities became important to American higher education is presented by tracing their origins, development, and evolving missions. In the past three decades, the people of the United States have created the comprehensive public state college and university by the conversion of over 200 existing…

After 40 years of efforts, the first bill authorizing the establishment of community colleges in the state of Ohio was finally adopted in June 1961. Before and after the passage of the act, attempts had been made to create a comprehensive community college system in Ohio, but all of them failed. A 1970 study by the Ohio Board of Regents (OBOR),…