To me one of the finer colleges in the area especially down here always clean safe plenty of parking and they have wonderful programs here depending on what you're looking to study read more

Saddleback College - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Mission Viejo, California

See all

I'd give Saddleback College Online website a 3 stars. The college itself seems outstanding academically, and they offer the one online class I really need, which is the onlyI reason I stayed enrolled. But honestly, their website experience has been one of the most frustrating college portals I've used. I consider myself very computer savvy. I've successfully handled registration, payments, class enrollment, and online portals with Chaffey College, Fullerton College, Santa Ana College, and even UCLA pre-hospital programs online without major issues. Saddleback's system, however, feels overly complicated and cluttered. I literally made 3calls all while trying to navigate through the clutter. The site constantly times out, and there seem to be glitches between the main portal and Outlook web app. I'd click to view messages and get a "hang on while we sign you out" message instead. Then I'd rush back into MySite before the session expired again. Even something simple like checking my Summer 2026 classes felt unnecessarily difficult. There are too many tabs, locks, checklists, tutorials, and steps all over the homepage. It feels overwhelming instead of user-friendly. I can only imagine how difficult this must be for students who aren't comfortable with technology or for international students navigating the system for the first time. My first experience calling for help back in March was positive, but recently I felt like support would rather have me drive to campus with my laptop instead of explaining things clearly over the phone. That was disappointing. A counselor, literally suggested I drive to campus with my laptop ‍ I really think the website design needs improvement. Simpler navigation and a cleaner layout would make a huge difference because the current setup is unnecessarily confusing for students trying to complete basic tasks online. I really hope that for summer semester all these glitches clear up. read more

See all

Incredible campus that continues to invest in infrastructure to increase its educational reach and power. Earned a Comprehensive Medical Assistant certification here before transferring to UC for my BA at a fraction of the cost of a four year institution. Their Health Sciences department is noteworthy! Additionally, their program for students with challenges is effective and I'm grateful for exemplary staff like Maggie! Truly consider enrolling here for a course in something that interests you or to begin your academic goals to the career and knowledge of your dreams. read more

See all

Cops criminalizing me by seeing me as suspicious just because I wear a mask when i just don't want to get myself or others sick. Had terrible experience with a nurse yelling at me for asking about health question and just people just stare at me because of my mask. There's barely anyone who wears a mask and are always coughing getting others sick on top of that. It's getting to the point I don't want to be in campus anymore. They're supposed to be inclusive but it feels more isolating than ever before. I don't feel safe at all and just want to graduate and get my education but here we are, the year 2026... read more

If you are a U.S. citizen, this might not be a bad place to study. But if you are an international student, it is the worst place to spend your time and money. The counselors deliberately enroll you in unrelated and unnecessary classes just to keep you here longer, even though they know you are paying extremely high tuition. They make it sound like you are "required" to follow whatever a counselor says, but in reality, it's a manipulative system. Yes, the classes are rigorous, and you will learn but professors often grade harshly and unfairly. I graduated with a 3.93 GPA after earning As in Calculus I, II, III and all my CS courses, yet I was rejected from UC schools because transfer requires a perfect 4.0 from here. What makes it worse is that some professors clearly play favorites: certain students are handed easy As, while others who worked just as hard are pushed down to Bs and Cs. On top of that, the administration misleads international students about on-campus work. They tell you that you're "allowed" to work on campus, but every semester it's the same excuse: "No availability right now, maybe next semester." Meanwhile, U.S. citizens get hired. I personally applied to be a math tutor after excelling in all my calculus courses, but was rejected. At first, they said it was "confidential" why I wasn't chosen, then admitted they "had other candidates." The truth is simple: hiring an international student means issuing a Social Security Number and filing extra paperwork something they don't want to do. So instead, they quietly shut you out. This college exploits international students. If you are not a citizen, don't waste your time and money here. read more

Saddleback College has a rather nice campus located in Mission Viejo. It's easily reachable from I-5 on Marguerite Parkway. I've not taken classes here, but I've attended many meetings here. Staff is very professional and helpful. read more

At 4:30 pm, the financial aid office staff refuse to answer calls, well that sucks out loud. What a bunch of waste of space. They make so much money yet dont want to answer or assist the poor students. It was a quick question, you ding dongs. Don't even get us started on the so-called new school site. Where do they find these people?? Good luck calling IT. They know absolutely nothing, zero, zilch, Notta. For the love of god, please get rid of the so-called web designer/s; they are making all of us miserable and frustrated. Just stop! read more

Absolutely the worse website anyone has ever seen. Too many links. You sign up for a class, 20 minutes just for that. it doesn't even tell you the date it starts ,you have to click another link. Hay Saddleback ,how do you get a parking permit ??????? says per google Mysite then My information . Where did you put My information to click on to get Parking permit read more

For context, I printed some papers after my class on the first floor of the GW last week. I use the PaperCut--which is easy to navigate--but I put in an extra $5 and it didn't seem to work towards the end. Weekly, I usually go to the GW's Career Center to print and conveniently thought I could print the last 10 pages there before class, next week [Apr 23, 2025, 12:21:37 PM]. Fast-forwarding to today [Apr 28, 2025, ~08:35 AM], I went to print and the usual charming lady in the morning was not there. Instead, it was the lovely lady across from her that was near the window. On a typical 'printing day', when I enter the charming lady greets me and I usually see this lovely woman smiling with their coworkers or talking to callers. Today, the lovely woman checked me in and this other person then told us the 10-page rule, which is understandable since it's protocol. It was my first time making copies of 1 page and wanted to make it double-sided for the respectable limit of 10. However, it didn't goes as plan for me. Being an honest person, I quickly went up to her and informed her I accidentally printed too much since I didn't know 'Enter' after inserting the # of copies needed would print it right away because I've done that to 'Custom Pages' in my past visits. As I didn't want it to print more than I had to, I tried to ask if she could cancel it. Regardless, she waited for all of it to print and with a stern expression, "Well, this certainly isn't ten pages". That's when I tried to tell her it was an accident, an honest oversight. She took a sigh and told me that next time I would lose my printing privileges if I did that again--which I told her, "I understand, it was a mistake." For some reason, it seemed like this triggered her because as she shook her head, she articulated, "Well, I had students who also do this and next time, you'll be going to the Library to print. They all had to pay." This was a very not needed comment and felt derogatory. She helped me in the past & I could tell that she was 'expressive' in a bad way. She handled this situation unprofessionally and I do pay for the printers on campus--hence context. As I log out the computer, I apologized that there was NO cancel button for me to click and seemed like she ignored me. When I left, told her thank you however. I would like to think this lady was having a bad morning and it was definitely my fault. Yet, this interaction and the last sentence she said rubbed me off the wrong way because it was an unnecessary statement and indirect implication. Since this semester is almost over, I will not be going here for the time being as I'm not sure if I'm welcome back with those mixed responses she gave me... That was not a usual intonation to give a student. read more

Update about the financial aid counselor Javi. He has since been fired for sexual harassment towards female students. I made this review before this was public knowledge. read more

I had an issue with dropping a course and Jeffrey the mechanic who also rides in the carts took me under his wing and helped me for over an hour. Everything has been moved around and I was lost ! He was there helping me without question! He Told me he has been there 20 years! I am 85 with a cane and so impressed with the caliber and integrity of this gentleman. Needs to be commended!! read more

Wow wow wow... Miss Melanie H Smith, you have been the most amazing through my registration and just being here for me. She is in the financial department where they do deferments. Hands down soooo kind, so quick, and just so knowledgeable. We need more Melanie; she helped me through all my needs in a quick and time sensitive matter I'm talking about seconds. My 5 stars are for her! Thank you saddleback she's a keeper! read more

The girls volleyball including the coach but specially this one teammate are the definition of a shame to society. I just wanted to watch the game, only to have my family each completely disrespected. My brother was dumb, spilled some water on the court. I agree he shouldn't have done that. But as a teammate representing your own school, you decide that the best course of action was to throw the towel on the ground and say go clean. Was it too hard to just hand it or ask? And of course the coach was no better. Stood there as he cleaned and had the rudest tone. All I can say is whoever raised you guys should be ashamed. read more

If you thinking about taking a culinary class at saddleback college, I suggest Chef Pascal Olhats French Cuisine Classes, And or Chef Stacy Horn has a Chocolatier Class that is a crowd pleaser. In the ceramics department you can take a class from Professor Laura Haight. She is another great teacher of the arts. read more

Saddleback College - Saddleback college kitchen - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Mission Viejo, California

Depressing and outdated campus. Horrible parking. HORRIBLE! Bygone and mundane corse work. Online platform is hellacious when registering for classes (as someone stated above). Little to no help for students with learning disabilities. read more

I attended Saba beauty and I went through saddleback! I had such an amazing time and I learned so much from Mrs Asmi she really cares for her students and makes sure we are more than prepared for our exam! I passed the 1st time! I really loved the school and all the staff read more

I spent two years at community college here and it truly over prepared me for university. I attended Saddleback after failing to get into any colleges following highschool and I opted to do the honors program. I completed the honors program and, because of this school, I got into UCI, Berkeley, UCLA, and UCD. I think what sets Saddleback apart is the fact that you can tell that the school really cares about you. They encourage people to get free tutoring, they provide free food at the tutoring center and they hold all sorts of job and career events that are easily accessible on the small campus. Really, they are all about self improvement and giving you any resource they can to help you improve yourself financially, mentally, or academically. The school offers cheap classes and is very generous with financial aid. The quality of the education is very high. After attending both UCI and Saddleback college, I feel comfortable saying that saddleback was more challenging for me intellectually, and even though it was more challenging I felt like k had more support to get me through the challenging coursework. The free tutoring center was especially helpful and I spent hundreds of hours there with some great tutors who thought me math. The English and essay tutors were excellent as well. Other schools charge for tutoring. The professors are also really great here and they give their students a lot of attention. All in all I really miss this place and I would say that this is hands down a better option than doing all 4 years in university. read more

Great campus, great teachers, and great classmates. I had a wonderful time completing my GEs here. The counselors are very straight forward with you and they helped me transfer easily. read more

My goodness, what a shit shoooooow! They literally make it impossible to go to community college. You need a masters in coding to even understand their online application. It's a sham!!!!!! You are denied or redirected at every step of the way. It's a big circle-jerk of bullpoop. Community College should NOT be this hard to access. read more

Great school overall: lots of learning resources and advisors ready to help! I would definitely check out the poster boards around campus for jobs, tutoring services, disability support, and overall community engagement! read more

Quality of professional teachers is extremely low. They are either amazing and knowledgeable or have zero idea what they are doing and standardization of the class curriculum. read more

Best school I've attended. The campus is gorgeous, with all sorts of trees, plants, and greenery. Great place for walking and when I'm there I do a lot of walking from the parking lot (The lot where the Campus Police department is is the best lot, imo) to class(es). I feel the walking is just fantastic for my health and well being. The curriculum is impressive and the teachers and professors I have had have been top notch. I look forward to Spring Semester. The classes are challenging and I have learned so much with what I've taken. I try to attend as many classes as I can when I'm enrolled in a course. It's the best way, in my experience. The people who work here (Ms. Lua, Ms. Yu, Carmen Hernandez-Bravo, Deidre Cavazzi, Dr. Peter Espinosa, Barbara Cox, Veronica Obermeyer and others) and those that go here are excellent. I've met so many lovely people at Saddleback. The campus is close to the mall and plenty of restaurants and is nearby Mission Hospital. Tuition and book prices have inflated over the years, but what do you expect? Hopefully tuition prices will stay the same for a good while. College can be expensive. Still, this is a bargain compared to the UC and Cal State universities. Many people who go to Saddleback end up transferring to 4 year colleges, many of them prestigious ones. Check out their website to see the class offerings, free events, and more. They have a rad art museum on campus as well. Check it out! read more

See all

I do no recommend this school . Unless you have a lot of money for parking tickets. Even if you have a permit

This school needs some serious upgrading...the classrooms (excluding the health sciences building) are so ghetto. The chemistry labs are ghetto and the bathrooms belong in Tijuana... The teachers here are great however.. Lots of young and knowledgeable professors who keep up to date with current curriculum and make lectures interesting.. Parking is terrible but arrive early and walk you fat asses! Bring a backpack to carry your stuff.. A variety of classes are available including night and online...register asap because they fill up quickly and if the class is full, petition the first day and you have a good shot at getting in.. My micro class started with 35 and now there are only 25 of us! read more

See all

This is a wonderful JC college. I have several friends that graduated here. They have great instructors and student programs for transfering to Universities. College is affordable, But student loans are still for those that qualify for the loans. School is in a perfect neighborhood. Apply at Saddle back college. You wont regret. read more

Seriously, worst website ever! Can't figure out if classes are open unless you enroll in the college. What's the point in enrolling if all classes are full? A huge waste of time. I found out what classes were open at IVC in 2 clicks. Get your act together, Saddleback! read more

So they take money for an OUTSIDE tournament at the pool and don't allow spectators! 2022...is this insanity? I'm pissed we have to waste our money on this and will express this to the club sports that should never involve a school like this. Not acceptable read more

I've had many encounters I do not like at this school. I feel even with a stem major they will try and lock you into community for money purposes. The English department is horrible almost all the professors are rude. I even had one insult me and harass me through a chain of emails. I reported it to the dean and he did nothing. There was only one teacher I loved on this campus and that was my business 101 professor. All around this school does not care for each individual student or any. If you want to spend money on a good education do what I am doing now which is attend private university and pay the extra money. It is sad that this college has gone down after years of having a decent faculty. read more

Son Vu is the absolute worst.. rude, dismissive, and clueless about the subject matter. You are gambling your money with this college. Though some of the professors are sufficient, this college employs professor who have been continually rated poorly on ratemyprofessor.com and called out for being offensive. read more

I used to live right across the street from this awesome college. Campus is beautiful but parking is brutal and expensive ! Now just finishing up some Online classes there. Being a parent, the online classes are so convenient! You save money on parking too and I am more of a techy girl and enjoy the online classes better! So far, all A's @ Saddleback! Great professors and counselors! Dr. Magrann is spectacular ! read more

Do not take Tiffany Baggs for Speech. It was a nightmare! She's unprofessional, lazy, and does not care about her students! Check out all the reviews on ratemyprofessors.com and you will know why. The administration including the Dean was so quick to just transfer me to a different class instead of solving the problem. This teacher should've been suspended for not doing her job. I could've gotten a C or a D grade because of her being disorganized with her modules. The uploads and instructions of her homework is not clear and she will have you redo all your homework after doing them for hours!! I got a well deserved A from a different class and did not have to go through any BS! Take Claire Crossman instead, she's awesome!!! read more

This school staff is incompetent and doesn't pay attention to detail and cost me to loose my school funding, this is only one of MANY issues I've experienced in a short term duration. Your mind will be much more at ease with any other college I promise! read more

I was not pleased with the experience there, mostly because of the professors. I had only a few quite good and really passionate or at least decent. The rest were there just for a paycheck and feeling miserable while "teaching". Counseling is a joke, people there are clueless and they are payed for their poor performance. Must be nice not to do a good job but to be payed for it anyway. I do not recommend this college. read more

I am a senior actor with much experience at saddleback college over decades. I went to an open audition and was discriminated against for my age and a broken kneecap I was healing from. I was auditioning for the role of elderly grandmother. But I was ignored during the audition and made to feel uncomfortable. January 24th 2023 I did not get a call back and I complained to the department head fine arts and now I know I will never be cast again because I filed a complaint for unfair treatment of a person of age with a disability a broken kneecap that would have healed by the time rehearsals would have been underway. Saddleback college has a policy not to discriminate apparently the theater arts department didn't get the memo read more

Saddleback College is by far the best school in the area for accumulating transfer credits to UC or CSU and the campus offers a number of paths for achieving accreditation or workplace credentials and associate's degrees. Saddleback has been my home away from home for a number of years now... I've been taking courses here since 1997, eventually graduating in 2009, and I have never been disappointed in the quality or efficiency of the faculty or the curriculum. I continue to take at least one course every semester, from creative writing and business development to horticulture and culinary arts, and volunteer for a variety of groups and services that are made available on campus. It is a fantastic community college and continues to expand in both its size and educational development... Recent grads should take their first two years of college here; same content taught at a university but at a quarter of the price. read more

Saddleback College - On campus in a cozy red chair. Health Sciences and Student Services Center in the foreground. - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Mission Viejo, California

SaddleBack needs to step it up with their Financial-Aid staff. Seems like they never know what they're speaking about and misinforming students like myself. read more

Nice campus indeed. It's quite large in the sense that everything is spaced out, thus, it does get a little difficult to find your classes, but nonetheless I thought the campus was nice. Spending my post graduate life taking prerequisite courses here and I've truly been enjoying the kindness, guidance, and help of the professor I've been taking classes with. Unlike the university I attended, the professors are very passionate about helping their students which I love. Definitely a great place for taking classes. The only thing I dislike is that the student store closes early as well as all the services are not open for long. read more

Saddleback College - Campus with no one on a friday night! - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Mission Viejo, California

Sports complex. Great football field. read more

Saddleback College - Great football field, seats need cleaning and some bug spray. Otherwise a good spot for entertainment. Especially at night. - Colleges & Universities Near Me - Mission Viejo, California

I'm taking a Spanish class here and today was the first day. I must first clarify that I'm taking one of the classes from the Community Education Center's program and not the Saddleback College's regular curriculum. The information sent out to the students regarding where to go and where to park was just abysmal. We were all given different directions so there were a bunch of people in the class who couldn't find the classroom and others who parked in the wrong area. I asked a security guy if I could park where the classes were and he told me yes I could. So I get there and there were a bunch of people parked there. When I got into the classroom the instructor said to go and park along the fence and not in the stalls. A bunch of us left to do that. When I got to the parking lot and had moved my car to the fence, this college police car came and sounded his siren and told us we couldn't park there. So we had to move AGAIN! It was just a lot of miscommunication and confusion. The class was great though. I'm totally enjoying it. Most of the people in the classroom were in their late 40s and older with a few of us younger students in there. There are other classes available too which you can check on line at their website. If they can get their act together with sending out correct information to everyone so that there isn't so much confusion on the first day of classes, then this wouldn't be such a bad place to be. It's small enough so you wouldn't get TOO lost and located in a nice area. read more

Gonna have to update my review here, sadly... Saddleback College is still a beautiful campus with new parking lots and generally clean campus and restrooms. If I had to go to a community college, this would be my first choice. It's pretty safe, for the most part. Just be smart and don't valuables in your car. Don't walk around in the dark at night. Many of the professors are still stellar in their own ways. Many are knowledgeable, helpful, fun, inspiring, and willing mentors. So that's all good, so far. However, after 3+ years of attending Saddleback College, I am sad to say that I've had enough of community college! I just want my associate's and get the hell out of here. The people that work at Saddleback College with the exception of the professors are unhappy, rude, and really couldn't care any less about the students. I'm treated better at fast food drive thru. The last thing that happened to me that made me update this review (and write a letter), was at the bookstore. They do not accept returns or exchanges after 1 week of purchasing books from them. Now, whether you knew this or not, does not matter. Whether they told you or not before you purchase a $100+ book also does not matter. If you change your mind about the class or find a better deal on the book, if it's past 7 days, you're keeping the book and not getting your money back. They didn't specify this when purchasing on their website. Most classes don't even need books on the first week of class. The first week is all about the syllabus and professors introducing themselves and talking about expectations, etc. The drop date for most classes is usually at 2 weeks, where you can still get a refund for dropped classes. But the bookstore? Better not buy your books there until you're absolutely sure you're sticking with it. The bookstore won't even "buy back" the books they sold you. Their reasoning is that they bought too many books this semester and need to get rid of their inventory. For just this semester, I spent nearly $400 on books alone. I wish these books were worth it. I wish these books are actually going to be useful. My advice, always rent your books from Amazon. It's cheaper and it's no hassle. Easy returns, good customer service, and you save a bunch of money. For years, I've had no luck with many of the counselors at Saddleback College. They're supposed to help make sure students are on track to getting their degree. Instead, they don't know what classes I need. Every time I see one of the counselors, the requirements for my degree changes. Now, 3 years later, I'm still here. This is how I'm going to end up with a liberal studies degree, hopefully in addition to the degree I actually want. One of the rudest and most unprofessional "counselor" laughed at me when I came to ask questions and she said to me, "Where did you get that information? There's no such thing!" And she laughed like it was the stupidest thing ever. She was a huge "see you en tee". I got the information from another counselor just a week before, where else am I supposed to pull that info out of? Also, it turns out, that rude counselor was so wrong and so uninformed about her own job. But anyway... Nothing about spending 3+ years at a community college is funny, especially not to me. How I see it now, I'm just doing "time" to get my degree. I'm totally uninspired and unmotivated to go to class and I hate every minute I have to spend here. And I used to be phi theta kappa. Now I just wanna be done with all of this ish. read more