Joliet Junior College was founded by J. Stanley Brown, who was superintendent of Joliet Township High School, and William Rainey Harper, president of the University of Chicago. Before changing its name to Joliet Junior College in 1916, the school was called Central High School.
The idea behind a community college came about when the United States wanted to have a more-skilled workforce to deal with challenges of global economic competition in the early 20th century. This increased college attendance. As of January 2009, there were 1,177 community colleges in the United States, and about 11.7 million students enrolled in a community college.
Joliet Junior College offers pre-baccalaureate programs for students who intend to transfer to a four-year university to complete a degree.
Joliet Junior College is in Joliet, Illinois, which is about one hour from Chicago.
The college consists of three campuses. The Main Campus and City Central Campus are in Joliet. The North Campus is in Romeoville, Illinois.
There were 14,088 students attending Joliet Junior College in fall 2008.