If there was one way to do it, we’d all be doing it that way. Isn’t it nice that there are higher education models that can accomodate all types of students and their financial and personal realities? I was a commuter for 6 years, because that is the only way my parents and I could afford college for me, the first college graduate in my family. My husband was a commuter for 3, lived on campus for 2, because he got his AA at community college while working full time, and then transferred to a 4-year school hours away from home to get his bachelor’s. Our daughter is living on/near campus for her entire college career, because we can afford for her to and because she’s an only child that needs to be out of her comfort zone to grow and mature. All 3 of us have turned out fine (so far).