<p>Does that alone devalue the college experience?</p>
<p>wow, I have no idea about this. I would love to help…</p>
<p>I certainly don’t think it does. The goal of college is to get an education. I know students want to go “somewhere else” for school but most can’t afford that.</p>
<p>^^ agree with Erin’s Dad. Most students don’t have the traditional “going away to school” experience. Frankly, it used to be reserved for the upper-middle class & wealthy; only relatively recently did people in middle/working class aspire to such an education. With rapidly rising costs while middle/working class salaries stagnate - “going away to school” is quickly reverting back to the realm of the upper-middle class & wealthy families.</p>
<p>Most students and parents here seem to be in the traditional camp then.</p>
<p>MOst students live on campus whether they are out of state or instate or sometimes even local. The only additional cost to being out of state is airplane tickets (as far as cost of living issues, and NOT including tuition differences.) </p>
<p>Many students/parents are self selecting in state public universities because of the cost savings on tuition. But many private colleges give scholarships or grants to reduce their tuition and make it more reasonable…and sometimes on par with flagship state universities. </p>
<p>College as a rule is outrageously expensive, while universities are often bloated with administrators and faculty that are tenured but dont work very hard. They are bastions of inefficiency. Of course the cost of health care has affected them as it has all employers. </p>
<p>I dont have a solution to the problem, but it would be great if everyone did away with the scholarship myths and the SAT and simply reduced their tuition cost by 30%, making it basically the same price for everyone to attend. They can make admissions decisions like the SAT free schools do today: gpa, class rank, course rigor, extra curriculars and interviews. Federal financial aid would fill in the gaps for those who qualify.</p>
<p>sovereigndebt, the fact is that nationwide, the majority of students commute. Even the majority of traditional age students commute. Living on campus is indeed the minority experience.</p>
<p>But the question is, is it a better experience?</p>
<p>Define ‘better’ ;)</p>
<p>Maybe the question should be… is it a necessary experience? IMHO: it’s nice if you can get it, but you can do just fine in life without the traditional campus experience. Millions around the globe manage just fine living at home and going to class. Plenty people in the US also do fine with an education they got from the local community college/nearby state U that did not involve the full “going away to college” experience.</p>
<p>Although i had the full residential experience and my children will most likely do the same, I think there is much to be said about living at home while attending college. I think it is the way to go for many students who are not interested in the party scene or who simply want a more economical approach to getting an education. I think there is a lot of social pressure put on students living on campus. That can lead to a lot of anxiety for the hard core students who are there primarily for the education. </p>
<p>We have some very good universities within commuting distance of our home and I would not balk at all if one of my children took that route.</p>
<p>I’ll argue that it’s a better experience, but only if the student is happy with the situation. My son lived in a residence hall a 10-minute walk from home - yes, my wife and I live THAT close to the university where we are both employed - and absolutely hated being on campus. (As it turns out, he also hated pretty much everything about being a college student). My daughter, OTOH, went pretty far away to school, is having the greatest experience of her life at a small LAC, and will live in campus housing all four years. She only comes home for winter and summer breaks. Her’s is the ideal college experience, in my opinion. And no, were it not for significant financial aid, we could not afford to let her do it. Having stated that, it would have crushed me had we been unable to send her off.</p>