Hi! In general, older Inventor release cannot open files in newer Inventor release. So, at school (2017), you will not be able to open the files you create at home (2019). I suggest you keep them in sync. You are a student entitled to education license. You should install a copy of 2017 at home.
There is a reference workflow allowing Inventor 2017 to reference 2019 part and assembly files. You will need to install 2017.4 update and also have 2018 with 2018.3 installed. This is called Future CAD workflow. You can reference part and assembly files saved in 2019 in 2017. But, you cannot modify the 2019 files.
Many thanks!
Johnson Shiue (johnson.shiue@autodesk.com)
Software Test Engineer