Guided by a vision of an ideal educational system that is dedicated to the cultivation of a democratic citizenry, this monograph explores a number of questions about the growth and recent transformation of American junior colleges from liberal arts transfer institutions to providers of terminal vocational training. Chapter 1 examines the role of community colleges in maintaining the existing American social order, arguing that while community colleges chose to "vocationalize" themselves, they did so under powerful structural constraints. Chapters 2 through 4 provide a historical analysis of the origins of the two-year institution, its growth and development, and its transformation to a predominantly vocational institution. Covering specific periods in the history of the two-year college, these chapters trace the spread of community colleges throughout the United States, with particular emphasis on California, the uncontested leader of the national movement for decades. Chapters 5 through 7 offer a detailed case study of the development of community colleges in Massachusetts. Broadly representative of national trends over the past two decades, Massachusett's community colleges illustrate the dynamics of curricular vocationalism. Both national and statewide studies are included to provide an overview of the historical evolution of program preferences and a detailed account of the reactions to these preferences at both the state and the local levels. The final chapter focuses on theoretical implications, examining the original purposes of the community college and the processes through which it was fundamentally transformed. (JMC)