I read this in my late teens and recently went back and re-read it after buying it used through Amazon. It is a science fiction story complete with the Haldeman brothers exacting science (I think I read somewhere that one is a biologist and the other a physicist) but told through the eyes of a 'farm boy' type going off to college (in the form of a starship based university). This naïve farm boy happens to exist in the form of a fairly large bio-engineered colonist bred to survive on a harsh backwater planet. His experiences are played out brilliantly as he explores the people and planets of this not to distant future with his fellow students among whom he develops both friends and enemies.
My favorite section is when the school stops on the planet Hell, which rents itself out to other worlds who wish to wage war in a controlled environment. The vision the Haldemans paint of a future earth is brilliant, frightening, and altogether real.
This is a character study similar in style to a book like "Ender's Game" or in some respects "Starship Troopers" though on a smaller scale (no major planet threatening wars here). I think people who enjoyed those books would enjoy this one. It is well worth the extra effort to find a used copy.