[bvirkler]

This was my first thought as well - what you get out of it depends on what you put into it. Sure there's kids that treat it as high school part 2, but in my experience there's plenty of that at 4-year schools as well.

I got into my junior college's honors program, which meant free tuition for 2 years. In addition I participated in a local Fortune 100 company's student trainee program working 20 hours a week getting professional experience. It was a great jump-start to my college and professional career.

Even without free tuition, it seems like a no-brainer to me. Junior college professors can tell which students are there to learn. I had great relationships and learned a lot from both my junior college and university professors. To me the university atmosphere/experience isn't worth the extra cost.