<p>Quick question - do most four year schools allow students to attend part time? Do they allow part time students to live in the dorm?</p>
<p>I would think that economic pressures would necessitate part time work, but don’t know about the housing aspect. TIA.</p>
<p>You have to check each school’s policies.</p>
<p>I’m quite sure my son’s small LAC would not have allowed it, but of course it would be fine at some large public Us. Don’t know about housing.</p>
<p>My H’s small 4 year private certainly allows students to attend part time. I don’t think they can live in the dorms though if attending PT. He said they have seen a lot more full time students changing to part time lately.</p>
<p>Many private colleges may limit students to four years of financial aid, which would preclude attending part time.
But if you don’t need aid, they may be more flexible.</p>
<p>Why would you live in a dorm and go to school part time? </p>
<p>Most 4 year schools (public at least) will allow you to go part time, but I don’t know about living in a dorm while you’re doing it.</p>
<p>Some students with disabilities might have reduced schedules and still live in the dorm.</p>
<p>Most students who are so broke that they can only attend college part-time, are usually working full-time and commute to campus for their classes. Every large public university has a sizable population of students like that.</p>
<p>Cardinal Fang is right about students with documented, registered, disabilities who have permission to take reduced course loads, but are allowed to live in dorms. In this case, financial aid can also be extended to cover extra semesters needed for graduation.</p>
<p>My niece went to a private U that would have made her leave the dorm if she went part-time, though she only needed a few credits her last semester. Our D was living off campus when she had one semester she attended part time (saved $10-12K in tuition for taking 10 instead of 12+ credits).</p>
<p>I have read of students registered with disabilities getting many accommodations, including the ability to attend part-time, as mentioned above while living on campus near their classes and dining hall. Would definitely check out housing and how that might be affected by part-time status, as well as any FAid for students who are considering dropping to part-time for any reason.</p>
<p>Federal financial aid goes to students taking at least a half load of classes, or, in the school I am attending, a minimum of 6 credits. Many non-traditional students make it through college by taking classes part time (online, on campus, or low residency), living at home or on their own, and working- and get financial aid.</p>
<p>Nobody here can tell you about “most” schools. There are too darn many of them! Part time is very common at community colleges and state schools. I imagine you find more and more privates that accept, even encourage, part time enrollment for students who can’t go full time, especially as you move down in selectivity. You’re right, not all colleges are wealthy, and they do need revenue, so they have a sizeable number of part-timers.</p>
<p>I can tell you that at the LACs in my immediate area (and these are not highly selective schools), you would not be allowed to live in the dorm as a part-time student.</p>