DCHP-2

college community college DCHP-2 (July 2016)

• n. — abbreviation, common usage, Education

  a short form for community college.

  Type: 3. Semantic Change — In the US college is used interchangeably with university while "in Canada, college implies a community college" (Boberg 2005: 48). In Canada, community colleges began to be established in the 1960s as alternate post-secondary institutions (see also post-secondary) due to the baby boom and growing demand for skilled workers (see Canadian Encyclopedia reference). Community colleges grant technical and vocational certificates and diplomas, as well as giving courses equivalent to the first two years of university. Because education is a provincial responsibility, institutional differences are found in colleges across the country, particularly in Quebec (see CEGEP).
  Because college is a synonym for university in the US, references to community college use the full form to avoid confusion, which explains the high incidence of this form in Chart 1.
  See also COD-2, s.v. "community college", which is marked "esp. N. Amer.", Gage-3, s.v. "community college", which is marked "Cdn.", ITP Nelson, s.v. "community college", which is described as "in Canada".

  See also: CEGEP  post-secondary