Designed to provide an overview of the dramatic changes affecting community college education, this booklet presents a history of the movement which established community colleges, examines issues of particular importance in the 1990's, and offers predictions concerning community colleges in the 21st century. Following an introduction and brief history, the booklet profiles today's community colleges, reviewing the mission of two-year institutions and describing the characteristics which distinguish them from four-year schools. Then, student enrollments for the 1990's are discussed in terms of the factors contributing to projected enrollment increases. This section provides vignettes profiling 13 hypothetical students and the circumstances surrounding their enrollment, and highlights the demographic characteristics of the community college students of 1990. The next three sections look at curriculum and instruction; staffing; and finance, respectively, each concluding with a series of relevant questions currently facing community colleges. The final section provides a series of predictions concerning the status of community colleges in the year 2000, foretelling that the student body will include more minorities and persons over the age of 55; that the majority of faculty will have been hired in the 1990's subsequent to massive retirements; and that the academic agendas of fewer community colleges will be dictated by four-year institutions. (PAA)