This concise history of community colleges touches on major themes, including open access and equity, comprehensiveness, community-based philosophy, commitment to teaching, and lifelong learning. The third edition includes revised text as well as updated statistical information, time line, reading list, and Internet resources. In the more than a decade since "The Community College Story" was first published, higher education in general and community colleges in particular have faced an array of new challenges. Broad demographic shifts across the nation, urgent and changing workforce needs, and the need to respond to both business and societal needs in what is now a global economy and a world culture are key among them. During this decade of dramatic change, community colleges have not only met these challenges effectively but they have also continued to progress in the midst of growing enrollments and declining resources. What sustains the continued success of community colleges even while the landscape has shifted is that the fundamental mission has not changed: Community colleges continue to offer open, affordable access to higher education, regardless of the vagaries of the economy; provide comprehensive services that benefit not just the individual student but also whole communities; and, foremost, maintain an unswerving commitment to teaching and learning. In the first six chapters of this new edition, readers will again find a concise overview of what community colleges are and what they do, along with updated demographic, enrollment, and financial statistics. In the all-new concluding chapter, "Facing the Challenges Ahead," readers will also find an analysis and forecast of the most salient issues that the colleges must face now and into the future. As it has been for more than four decades, American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) is proactively engaged in anticipating and addressing issues and conditions to advance the work of the colleges. Following a foreword, this book is organized into seven chapters: (1) The Community College; (2) The Mission; (3) Implementing the Mission; (4) Students and Faculty; (5) Funding and Governance; (6) A History of Innovation; and (7) Facing the Challenges Ahead. Also included are: (1) Milestones in Community College History; (2) References; and (3) Resources. (Contains 5 tables and 5 figures.) [For the second edition of this book, see ED437086.]