But if you do two years at a community college and then two years at one of your top-25 schools you get the same benefits. It's also generally easier to transfer into a university than it is to get accepted right out of high school.
I would be quite surprised if you found a top-25 school that would accept community college credits 1:1. I am familiar with one of the top liberal arts schools in the US and credit transfers are most often at the discretion of the department of your declared major - a professor at an "elite" liberal arts school is very unlikely to assign much value to community college credits.
Of course, the ability to transfer of credits will vary immensely depending on the university and the community college - some of which are highly regarded. If you are planning this route and know the educational institutions you want to attend, it would be prudent to verify at the outset.
The University of Michigan accepts community college credits. I transferred some math credits and had several friends do their first 2 years at a community college before transferring there.
