I do not want to have my box this wide. I would like the text to wrap but I do not know how. Can I do this? I'd like my box to be 400,400 rather than 1250,200, but it is the only way I can get my text to fit. Or could I make a new box under the pull down menu that had this description in it. I do not know how to do it. - frame.add(panel3, BorderLayout.SOUTH); ???

public class ComboBox{
String course[] = {"Menu","CIS212","CIS222","CIS406","CIS407","CIS326","CIS328","CIS493"};
String desc[] = {"Please choose a class from the menu",
	"System Modeling Theory: " +
	"Class covers the principles and theory of discrete event system modeling and simulation.",
	"Computer Ethics: " +
	"This course focuses on ethical and legal issues, civil rights, and privacy considerations that organizations must take into account.",
	"Java Programming I:" +
	"Introduces the student to Internet Programming in the language of Java. " ,
	"Java Programming II: " +
	"Class covers advanced features of programming in the if Java.",
	"Object Oriented Programming I:" +
	" Class covers the traditional C language and object-oriented extensions that are found in the C++ language. ",
	"Object Oriented Programming II: " +
	"Develops a working knowledge of object-oriented concepts in areas of classes, inheritance, data structures, error handling, templates and file processing.",
	"Creating Web Databasese: " +
	"Class covers the concepts of Web database systems, their design, performance, scalability and reliability."};
	
  JComboBox combo;
  JLabel txt;

  public static void main(String[] args) {
		ComboBox b = new ComboBox();
  }
  public ComboBox(){
	JFrame frame = new JFrame("Information System Class Description");
	JPanel panel = new JPanel();
	JPanel panel2 = new JPanel();
	combo = new JComboBox(course);
	combo.setBackground(Color.white);
	combo.setForeground(Color.blue);

	txt = new JLabel("Please choose a class from the menu.");
	panel.add(txt);
	frame.add(panel, BorderLayout.NORTH);

	panel2.add(combo);
	frame.add(panel2, BorderLayout.CENTER);

	combo.addItemListener(new ItemListener(){
  public void itemStateChanged(ItemEvent ie){
String str = (String)combo.getSelectedItem();
	int index = combo.getSelectedIndex();
         txt.setText(desc[index]);
	  }
});
	frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
	frame.setSize(1250,200);
	frame.setVisible(true);
  }

If I understand your question correctly, I think what you need is a JScrollPane.

You can format desc in HTML style using HTML tags. Also you can use ToolTipText in same style.

txt.setText(desc[index]);
                combo.setToolTipText(desc[index]);
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