Tracing the nationwide development of the American community college from initial concept to its present position as the largest and fastest-growing sector of higher education, this book relates the development of the colleges to social and economic conditions in the country. Following a foreword and preface, the first two chapters examine the roots of the "people's colleges" and review the ideas of such founders of the community college movement as William Rainey Harper, John Grant, and J. Stanley Grant. Chapter 3 tracks the movement's expansion from the Midwest to the West and describes the first national study of community colleges in 1918. Chapters 4 and 5 review the socioeconomic influences on community colleges from 1920-29 and describe the status of the colleges in California, Texas, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Arkansas, and Oklahoma in 1929. The founding of the American Association of Junior Colleges is detailed in chapter 6, as well as the American Council on Education's adoption of standards for junior college accreditation in 1922. Chapters 8, 9, and 10 chart the effects of the Second World War, the GI Bill, and the Cold War on community colleges, while chapter 11 provides a state-by-state status report on junior colleges in 1959. Chapters 12 and 13 discuss urban expansion, open door admission policies, faculty recruitment, the incorporation of new technologies, minority programs, international expansion, federal aid and private funding, and college responses to the "baby boomers" from 1960-69. Chapter 14 reviews college responses to declining enrollment and new, non-traditional student populations in the 1970's, while the final chapter examines efforts to attract new students in the face of dropping enrollment from 1980-1992. Contains approximately 500 references. (KP)