As another poster said. They are only needed if you don’t work while in college or at least go to a two year college that lets you stay at home and then transfer.
For me, minimising the debt at the far end was important, so I took a heavy course load and worked half time on average. Work experience from that period (IT for the university) was actually quite valuable in the jobs (mainly engineering) I've had in the decade since. Maybe one employer has ever even looked at my school paperwork; I really don't understand the idea of doing nothing but university with that time.