I’ll provide an alternate view. We live 25 mins from our state flagship. The kids that we see struggle the most with the transition to college are those who attend the flagship and whose parents allow them to come home frequently. They have difficulty assimilating into the campus community because they don’t see it as “home”. Home is just up the road a bit. They tend to interact with others from their high school who also attend because they are comfortable and familiar rather than being forced into making new friends. They often spend prime college social time (weekends) in their family home instead of on campus. They usually get there, but the transition is rockier and takes longer.
Still, even when they settle in, they haven’t been forced out of their comfort zone as extensively as those students who go away and don’t have the option of coming home or keeping their high school social circle. In the students who venture further away we tend to see more independence.
I see the family value and convenience in going to college in one’s hometown. But to me it often appears to be at the expense of maximizing the personal growth that can come from being on one’s own, meeting new people in a place different from where they grew up. YMMV, of course.