The way you described the situation in your most recent post doesn’t sound so bad. Best wishes for your son.
As a SUNY parent, whose kids made the choice to attend the state school and graduate debt free, I understand your son’s decision. I don’t know what the real reason behind his wanting to come home, but accepting his reasons at face value, I see no cause to doubt him or to make him return to his LAC for the fall.
I was going to write about cars, but if you choose to get him a used car, I think that’s great. He might also be able to stagger his classes so he can drop your D off at school on his way to his classes, which is something we have done with 4 kids at home and only 2 cars. S17 has never had a problem getting a ride home from school from a friend with a car.
If your son is pursuing criminal justice, he might want to go to law school. He is better off, IMHO (and H and I are both attorneys) attending a SUNY, getting the best grades he can and using the extra money for test prep and law school costs.
Good luck to you and your son, @bjkmom .
I really don’t see any downside to your S’s plan. He will be doing what the vast majority of college students in this country are doing – holding down some sort of part time job and commuting to school. A residential experience can be a wonderful growth opportunity and your S has done that for a year. Go with his instincts and let him arrange his sophomore year.
Sounds like your S is making a thought out decision to transfer to a larger school that is cheaper, closer to home, has good part-time work available, and has his major. If he decides he wants to have another experience away from home, he could probably arrange to do a semester abroad or at another US college with an exchange program. Hope it turns out to be a good choice for him.
Sounds like a win-win situation for your son (and you). He got the experience of being away from home for his freshman year and is now being practical. Kudos.
I don’t disagree with his reasons. His future outlook is wider than it was sitting in a high school classroom.
One caveat : make sure he considers the SUNY campus and college as his ‘day job’ - IE., stays on campus and participates in activities as he would were he at a residential College. It’s very easy for a commuter student to slip into 'part time college student ’ mode, with more time spent at work and home, and nor taking advantage of clubs, office hours, study groups, etc.
Other than that, the financial parameters work well.
In addition, he did benefit from the smaller college’s environment and support for what sounds like could have been a potentially challenging transition year, and he came away from that with flying colors - not something to take for granted for many young men starting college, especially those thrown directly into a more anonymous, large university environment.
So far, so good : win-win.
MYOS1634 brings up a really good point about commuters’ college lives sliding into a lower priority. One of mine has done that slide 
I think the short term focus on money, that is common for kids that age, can sometimes interfere with more long term financial prospects. For instance, an internship that does not pay as well as the job, might go by the wayside. I still wonder if the school switch is an example of that phenomenon, meaning, short term gain, long term loss, but then again, having a big debt sure is a long term problem so…
What are the reasons for STAYING at the current school? Increase the debt load? Can’t work? Limit opportunities?
Etc.
If HE isn’t seeing the benefit of staying, what IS it in your mind, OP?
I went to three school for my undergrad degree- more than I would wish on any parent or child out there. My first was a small LAC that got too small after two years, and I was too immature to rise above the party culture and get my work done. I came home, went to a local small state college and worked. I finally figured out what to major in, and the school didn’t have it, so I went on to a larger state school to finally graduate. I have been happy in my chosen career for 25+ years. Seems like kids do a lot of growing in the 18-21 years, and the grand experiment of going away to college, while always an education, can turn out differently than expected.
Many good wishes for your son as he continues on his road!