Reviewing the history of the public junior college movement in the United States from 1990 to 1940, this monograph explores the college's mission, goals, program offerings, student enrollment, and geographic distribution. The first chapter examines the ideology behind the junior college, highlighting distinctions between the junior and community college movements, the origins and lack of precise definition of the junior college, and the ideologies of early college leaders. The second chapter examines social changes occurring in the country in the period, focusing on the social concerns of the era's educators, the emergence of new technical occupations, and educators' responses to the changes. Chapter 3 describes the forces shaping the view of the junior college and its relation to other higher educational institutions, indicating that the movement's leaders viewed the colleges as terminal extensions of secondary education rather than university oriented. The next two chapters review the conflict between students' demand for preparatory education and the colleges' focus on terminal education, examining geographic distribution, college offerings, and student characteristics to suggest that public demand, not the leaders' vision, was the driving force behind the movement. The final chapter summarizes the contradictions which led to the abandonment of the junior college movement, including low enrollments in terminal programs, faculty preferences for postsecondary rather than secondary institutions, and the establishment of colleges in areas which had no relationship to the ideological focus of the leadership. Contains a 326-item bibliography. (BCY)