Haha, for me college was both easier and much harder. I went to a very academically rigorous private school, but they had a wide support system there to 'catch you if you fell', so to speak. In college, you don't really have that- at least if you go to a large university like I do. They don't care if you fail out or not, so you have to seek out help on your own and what not. Professors don't know your name when you have six hundred kids in a lecture, which is kind of annoying compared to high school, where I knew like every teacher in the school, even if I didn't have their class.
At the same time, you don't have like six hours of class a day (unless you're crazy and take twenty units, which.... I wouldn't do xD). So that's nice. You have more free time, and for me, I have less homework, since I'm taking mostly math/science classes. I only get like one assignment a week from each class.
... but without your parents yelling at you to go to class, it's so easy to skip and fall into that hole of goofing off instead of doing your work. DOn't do that. >.> That's what I did and I regretted it a lot later. xD