Community Colleges have always been seen negatively. Even in our lives today community colleges are looked at as though they are for people who wouldn't yet be able to make it into a university, However this assumption towards some of the students that attend community colleges because many people enter into a community college for many different reasons. One reason, for example, people attend a community college before a university because the financial advantage that a community college offers; therefore, it seems that going to a community college is a good choice. The price for a general education in a community college is significantly lower than that of a general education in a university. Because of the lower costs, the possibility to receive a quality education or trade comes into reach for everyone who is financially challenged or hasn't made a career choice. .
Despite the negative misconceptions of junior colleges, they bridge the gap between high schools and universities and create opportunities for more of the United States population to achieve higher education. Understanding the need to establish a college, of which, provides an opportunity for the United States population to achieve a higher level of education, William Rainey Harper, the first president at the University of Chicago, created the first junior college in the year of 1892. He did this by dividing the university into two different parts; one was called the upper division and the other called the lower division. The upper divisions were known as the "Senior Colleges" while the lower divisions as the "Academic Colleges". Harper wanted these two separate colleges to focus on the different levels of training; primarily, the "Senior Colleges" was to focus more on the advanced courses while the "Academic Colleges" focused more on the less advanced courses. Harper also envisioned that a two-year school would soon stand on its own; however, it would still be affiliated with the university.