Close to 50% of all college students attend 2-year colleges, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics (2003). The common assumption is that students who choose 2-year schools do so because they are academically deficient or price conscious. However, little research has been done on why students choose to attend a 2-year college. This article, presents the results from the first of a series of studies on 2-year college choice. It reports and discusses focus groups involving over 200 community college students. A total of 6 provocative themes were discovered from the interviews, and suggest a preliminary model of community college choice.