To start with: current MD governor is a proud community college grad, and there are MANY success stories with CC’s. CC’s are an essential part of our higher ed landscape, and the ONLY way for some students to get a college degree, and the preferred way for others, for good reason. I’m not anti-CC.
That said: a few caveats about the CC-Flagship vs non-flagship state school argument:
“Final Result is identical.” - yes, if final result means only the diploma, not learning.
I teach at a non-flagship university. It is well known that when students want to avoid rigor for a difficult course (organic chemistry, for example), taking it at a community college and transferring it in is far easier. And on the flipside, when CC students transfer into our university, it is also widely known that many will have an adjustment period where they catch up to the expected rigor. (Again, I’m not at a flagship). We have advising and support services that prepare and plan for this.
Another way of thinking about this:
CC faculty as a whole (exceptions exist) are over-worked and underpaid. Many CC faculty teach a 5 course/semester load. The vast majority are unable to maintain a research agenda, which in fact is often not financially supported in CC’s. The vast majority do not have terminal degrees.
Now, if you compare this to a flagship where classes in the first two years might be huge, or taught by a graduate instructor who is 25 years old and working on their own dissertation - the CC might be a better option with better mentoring and advising and individual attention. When I was in my PhD program, my well regarded university did not advertise that just over 50% of undergraduate student credit hours were generated by graduate instructors.
But if you compare CC instruction to a regional university - the classes are often small, the teachers are also researchers with terminal degrees, and the primary focus of the institution is on undergraduate education.
So while there might be good reasons to go to a CC, the notion that the education received in the first two years would be identical to that given in a CC is, I believe, inaccurate. So, for academic quality two years at regional state->transfer to UMD would be better than CC->UMD, I would argue. (and unless you’re in a specialized program or the honors college, regional state->transfer to UMD would be better than just four years at UMD, I would suggest). And four years at regional state would be a better option than many realize