[Introduction] President Obama and others have called for free community college-- America\u27s College Promise. Yet controversy surrounds the community college system, with proponents emphasizing the educational opportunities provided while critics bemoan the high dropout rate and lack of equality of educational outcomes. Little research explores how students perceive their educational experiences at two-year colleges. This article explores community college strengths and weaknesses as perceived by a sample of successful criminal justice transfer students. During qualitative interviewing, students reported that they had a positive experience at community college and that it allowed them to prepare to be successful at university. Expense, teacher availability, and smaller class size were perceived as reasons the community college was advantageous. Notably, many students sensed that they missed out on a stereotypical college experience by first entering community college. Some referred to community college as the 13th year of high school, fake college , or not a regular institution
