Regardless of validating either statement, the question is do you believe they are mutually exclusive?
Utah is a commuter school
Being a commuter school impacts the student experience at Utah.
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It’s important to read the original question. In that context, Utah does not fit into the classic definition of a commuter school, regardless of how many students live off campus.
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Indeed. The thread seems to be debating whether or not U. Utah quantifies as a commuter school - as if bothered that it may actually be so by general definition.
The poster already assumes it is. The larger question was if or how being a commuter school impacts social life there. I’m saying, it can indeed be the definition of a commuter school and still be a vibrant experience for students. They aren’t mutually exclusive.
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@CoastandCow: We are in total agreement.
This is the pert that is actually in dispute. As @ucbalumnus has mentioned MULTIPLE times, there are lots of reasons that the number of students living on campus might be low. Depending on the reason, it may have an impact on the things the OP is concerned about. In the case of The U, it is because they simply do not have enough on campus housing to keep up with demand. They cannot even accommodate all the FTF that wan to live on campus. If they did, their numbers would be much closer to CU - Boulder and we wouldn’t even be having this debate.
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I believe the OP was asking if the campus is empty except M-F, 8-5. No. This is a Pac 12 school with sports on campus, theater, dance and other arts, concerts, clubs, night classes, people at the library, people at the rec center.
Even at Metro State in Denver, where only a small percentage of students live near the campus (a true commuter campus), there are things going on all the time and since there are almost as many evening classes as day classes. There are plenty of eating spots, food trucks, club meetings, sports going on all the time.
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Metropolitan State University lists 100% of frosh (and all students) off campus or commuting, so it is about as maximally commuter as a college can be.
https://www.msudenver.edu/media/content/officeofinstitutionalresearch/documents/commondata/commondataset2019-2020/F-StudentLife2019-2020_v3.pdf
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The Metro state campus has 3 schools that share some facilities - Community college of Denver, CU-Denver (part of the school, like engineering; other part that is medical is about 7 miles away), and Metro State. There are a few dorms and nearby apartments that are for students. I think CU built some dorms only for CU students. It’s right downtown, so apartments are very expensive if not subsidized.
But yes, almost everyone commutes. Still a lot of fun things to do all the time and across the street from downtown Denver (concerts, shopping, government, restaurants). I went down for a meeting on a Friday afternoon and was surprised how lively it was with music and food trucks, tons of students hanging out and not trying to get away from campus as soon as classes were over.
I grew up a mile from the U and attended many years ago. My son graduated 4 years ago and commuted from 20 miles or so. I know there have been some new dorms added but I still think locally it is considered a commuter school, at least when compared with Utah State or BYU. If you’ve ever tried to find a parking place up there I think you would agree.
Just my opinion with no science attached.
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