Junior or Community College
What is the Difference?
Two-year institutions have historically been known as junior colleges because they were generally lower divisions of private universities. Junior colleges offered general education programs and university transfer programs. Over many years, the name “junior college” has evolved to become “community college.”
http://www.americancommunitycolleges.com/isg_articles/junior-communitycollege-whatsdifferent.php
You have to remember that
@baymule is a Texan when talking to her. I often take that into consideration.

There can be subtle differences to some people but both Junior Colleges and Community Colleges offer two year programs that can lead to an Associates Degree, either in Arts or Science. Some may have specialist degrees such as certain applied sciences. They usually offer training in trades as well as more traditional college courses but some specialize in college prep work. As in anything else there can be a lot of differences in different Community Colleges or different Junior Colleges. They usually have very low acceptance requirements and costs, but you might want to pay attention to in-state versus out-of-state costs. Several star high school athletes that don't meet the requirements to enter a major four-year university go to Community Colleges to get their grades up so they can enter a four-year university and star in football or basketball. To be a little more fair to Bay (I don't want to overdo that, be fair to Bay), many Community Colleges have nothing to do with private universities and were never junior colleges.
I could not find a "University of Prescott" in Ohio or anywhere else. Are you talking about Prescott College in Arizona? I wanted to get a feel for your required course load in that field, especially the first two years.
A lot of times the first year or two of college the courses consist of basic courses, English, Math, History, Sciences, and some courses that can count as "electives". it's later on that you have to take the more specialized courses for the degree you want. That's where the two-year colleges come in. They generally offer these basic courses at a much less expensive cost. If you can take several of your required courses at one of these less expensive schools you can save a ton of money.
The problem comes in when the four year university does not accept the credits you earn at the two year school or count them toward your required courses, even if that two year school is accredited. A lot of times they don't. Northwest Arkansas Community College and the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville recently made the news as they were working to make it easier for those credits to transfer. A lot of times the UA-F would not accept those credits because the curriculum did not meet their requirements. Sometimes a university will have a special agreement with a certain two year school to make that transfer process easier.
I don't know what specific requirements Prescott have. You'd need to talk to their admissions department about this. Do you have the grades and maybe test scores to get in and do they accept transfer credits. If so which transfer credits do they accept? It will take work on your part, but Bay had a good idea. There is a potential for you to save money. It usually helps your admission if they are familiar with you and see that you are doing your homework before you apply. Being polite helps too. Like Red kind of said. talk to Prescott about scholarships or other forms or student aid, such as student work programs.