What makes a commuter school

tom1944
Tue, 25 Jul 2006 11:21:01 +0000

I am of the opinion that the majority of colleges(even private-with exceptions for the very top schools) are populated by students from the state in which they are located. I acknowledge that sparsely populated states- Del. VMT. RI have many oos students but in most cases the oos students are not that far from home so my ?. What makes a school a commuter/ suitcase school. Would it be based on the % of students that live on campus, the % that leave each weekend or the pure # that leave/stay.
Examples- small LAC 2000 students 90% live on campus and of those 1800 students 80% stay on the weekends leaving 1440 on campus.
Midsized university 10000 students 50% on campus and 50% leave each weekend leaving 2500 students on campus on the weekend.

If you are a student who stays on campus is the college experience different in regard to the "suitcase aspect of the schools?

Would appreciate all opinions- or first hand experience if any. Thanks