<p>
</p>
<p>Well, yes, but . . . it would be a huge mistake to think that because a school draws a large percentage of its students from the local area, it must be a “suitcase school.” The University of Michigan draws a large fraction of its student body from metro Detroit and smaller cities an hour or less distant (Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti, Toledo, Flint, Lansing, Jackson). But it’s by no means a suitcase school, because the university and the town of Ann Arbor are about the most vibrant, interesting places for college-aged kids in the entire region.</p>
<p>Same with Wisconsin-Madison. Most of the students are in-state, and most of the in-state students come from the Milwaukee or Madison metro areas, the major population centers in the state; but what’s happening on campus and in the student-dominated areas of Madison is just a whole lot more fun and interesting than anything going on in some sleepy Milwaukee suburb or in a quiet residential area away from the campus in Madison. You’d need to be an idiot to go home on weekends, and hardly anyone does.</p>
<p>NYU draws most of its students from the NYC metro area. It’s not the ideal campus-centered environment because students are drawn into the many attractions of the city which tend to pull them off-campus, but whatever its faults, NYU is certainly not a suitcase school. Who wants to go home to boring Westchester or Long Island or New Jersey when you’re living 24/7 in the Village, with all of Manhattan at your fingertips?</p>
<p>I’d say having a large percentage of the student body come from nearby may be a necessary but not a sufficient condition for a school to be a suitcase school. and even then, I’m not sure I’d draw the line at an hour’s radius. I imagine some schools are so bleak on the weekends that many students would drive well over an hour to get away, which of course contributes to the weekend bleakness. One thing I’m always interested in is what percentage of students have cars on campus. A high percentage usually means students think it’s necessary to have a car to get away from campus for interesting things to do, or to go home, or whatever. A low percentage of students with cars usually means most students don’t think a car is necessary because their needs and wants are being met on campus and in the immediate vicinity, i.e., within walking distance. Schools don’t usually publish this information, but it’s a question we often ask on tours, and surprisingly many tour guides seem to know the answer, which is often very revealing.</p>