Community Colleges in Popular Culture

The numbers make your head swim. Take a break and enjoy watching some depictions of community colleges.

“Last Chance U”: The Netflix documentary series has followed football and basketball teams at community colleges. It shows the academic and athletic struggles these athletes go through, with focus on the tough roads they’ve taken.

“Community”: This 2009 series ran for six seasons and is described in its plot description as following “A former lawyer who attends a community college when it is discovered he faked his bachelor’s degree.” In 2021, it was streaming on Netflix.

“Larry Crowne”: A 2011 film written, produced and directed by Tom Hanks and based on his time at community college, it also stars Julia Roberts. It tells the story of Larry Crowne, a middle-aged man who is fired due to a lack of higher education and who then enrolls in his local community college.

Updated June 2021.