The focus on educational attainment has taken on a renewed sense of national urgency. It is now commonly accepted that educational achievement is correlated with higher individual lifetime earnings and a better quality of life. Increasing the general level of education is also seen as important for the well-being of society and the economic competitiveness of a country. Because they are the largest, most accessible, and fastest-growing sector of higher education, community colleges have a substantial role to play in increasing the national level of educational attainment. Educators and policy makers need to know about the important contributions of community colleges and how they are different from any other sector of education anywhere in the world. In this article, the author discusses the distinctive characteristics of community colleges and outlines several values and characteristics that define the uniqueness of community colleges.