Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) community college, public institution of higher education. Community colleges are characterized by a two-year curriculum that leads to either the associate degree or transfer to a four-year college. T...

(Encyclopedia) Pierpont, Francis Harrison, 1814–99, Union leader in Virginia during the American Civil War, “Father of West Virginia,” b. near Morgantown, Va. (now W.Va.). When Virginia seceded, he became a le...

(Encyclopedia) charter school, alternative type of American public school that, while paid for by taxes, is independent of the public-school system and relatively free from state and local regulations. A charter sch...

(Encyclopedia) Charleston. 1 City (2020 pop. 17,286), seat of Coles co., E Ill.; inc. 1835. Charleston is an industrial, rail, and trade center located in an ...

(Encyclopedia) Long Island (1990 pop. 6,861,454), 1,723 sq mi (4,463 sq km), 118 mi (190 km) long, and from 12 to 20 mi (19–32 km) wide, SE N.Y.; fourth largest island of the United States and the largest outside ...

(Encyclopedia) Randolph, Peyton, c.1721–1775, American political leader, first president of the Continental Congress, b. Williamsburg, Va. After a general education at the College of William and Mary, he studied l...

(Encyclopedia) SLM Corporation, foremost provider of funding for higher education to American students; commonly known as Sallie Mae. The company, which also offers information and resources to assist students and o...

(Encyclopedia) civics, branch of learning that treats of the relationship between citizens and their society and state, originally called civil government. With the large immigration into the United States in the la...

(Encyclopedia) Carroll, John, 1735–1815, American Roman Catholic churchman, b. Maryland. He studied as a child with Jesuits at Bohemia, Md., and later at Saint-Omer in Flanders, since Catholic secondary education ...