I don’t see how living on campus is a “required” part of the “college experience.” It sounds an awful lot like people thinking “well, I did it this way, so everyone should do it this way.”
Is that because of a greater need or the fact that dorms today are not the dorms of yesterday? They cant shove 2 students into a dorm room the size of a closet and expect them to share a bathroom with 50 other kids anymore.
For us Americans:
coo-ee: Shouting distance
graziers: Ranchers
doss house: flophouse/cheap shared house of dubious quality.
Here’s the last post she made about it, which implies (to me) greater need.
“Can’t believe it was seven years ago! [building the previous dorm] 1800 new beds and one central office building later, we are getting close to starting another phase of construction to accommodate our still-growing freshman population. Planning underway for another 2,500-3,000 beds.”
Ok. It says alot about the college.
I know several small colleges in Connecticut that a few decades ago were primarily commuter schools but have built dorms recently. They’re getting students from other Northeastern states. Also, don’t forget that many foreign students come to the US to study (and it’s actually a big part of the export economy).
UMKC was at one time virtually ALL commuter students. Probably 90%. Now they opened more dorms and pushed for more on campus things so more are living on campus.
Functionally, all of them. They also use their phones.
Spain has dorms but they’re not college-owned and campuses are still viewed as a novelty: it’s either live at home (including relatives other than your parents), live in a dorm or share an apartment. The way coursework is organized is radically different from the American model as well: it’s unusual for someone to have classes in multiple buildings. Many universities have buildings in different points of town. Even when they’re relatively close, having to go from one building to another would eat up a lot of time; having hours between lessons is viewed as an abnormal complication (it’s most likely to happen if you’ve got a retake from a previous year). When possible, a given group of students will have all their classes in a single classroom: my 5th-year group for example (Orgo Specialty, 15 of us) had classwork in the classroom right across the 5th-year lab, where we actually spent more time than in the class.
But whether you’re living with the parental units, with other relatives, or in shared housing, there are things that will be best done in person. Doing chemistry lab at home would be a serious problem among other things for safety reasons, but most kitchens could be set for it relatively easy; doing theater work seems more complicated.
I think you’re underestimating the value of people coming together and interacting in person. That’s why we still have live music, live theater, live church, live offices, live sporting events, live book clubs, live bars, et al.
In my profession, as a part of our ethical and legal responsibilities to the public and the field, I need to see parts of your training and behavior in person so I’m sure that you are the person doing your homework, and because in-person interpersonal skills are among the criteria for completing your program and moving toward certification and licensure. When I pass a student in certain classes, I’m attesting to regulatory authorities that I have directly observed that person and evaluated their competence as meeting baseline skills and ethical criteria for working with vulnerable clients and patients.
I don’t see it changing any time soon. I know two kids that are going to college this year and they are both going to packed dorms. One school even converted a hotel to dorms to accommodate the number of students enrolling.
Frankly, I figured the requirement for freshmen to live on-campus was for the same reason 18/19 year old airmen/soldiers must live on base; it’s to keep them safe b/c for many of them they’re living away from the people who kept them from getting hurt or going broke and don’t have the maturity or self-discipline they will in a few years.
My daughter spent a year in college in Germany, and there were no dorms, just student apartments with very small rooms and a shared kitchen/bathroom per floor.
Even 45 years ago the University of Illinois had dorms but also near by private dorms which offered food service also.
I think many American universities were founded when land was relatively cheap and so were able to get all the buildings close together. Exceptions are NYU and Boston University, whose buildings are scattered in the city, but even those are not that far apart. And most people take most courses in their major, which would be in a single building often.
Community college was exactly what I needed after high school. I’d graduated from a great college prep HS but, unlike most other grads, didn’t make any plans. I took three years of full time classes at the CC to sort myself out and pick a field to study. Then, I enrolled in a four year program in another state, lived in a dorm the first year and ultimately got my degree.
There were a lot of people like me at community college. Fresh out of high school, living at home, working part time and classes full time. I had friends and classmates I’d see there a few times a week so there were social aspects. I really enjoyed it.
The gen-ed classes were mostly during the day time. More vocational classes (electronics for me) did have a lot more evening hours and many classmates were older and had just finished a work shift. I later did that myself when taking an emergency medical technician licensing class.
You seem to be implying that the only reason people live on campus is to avoid the stigma of living at home. But there are very practical reasons for living on campus. Like, maybe you want to go to a school that has some degree of prestige or name recognition, and the only school meeting this criterion is an hour away from home. Or maybe you want to study a niche field–one that is not offered at the commuter school in your backyard. Or maybe the only school that has offered you substantial scholarship money is the one that is in another state.
Or maybe your family is a constant source of neediness. If you stay at home, you’ll be roped into doing house chores and babysitting when you really need to be studying. Or maybe your family are not supportive of your academic dreams. It’s kind of hard to be a scholar when your parents are constantly telling you you’re wasting time and money.
I attended a university that was only five minutes away from home, but I chose to live on campus. And I’m glad I did. I wasn’t a social butterfly or anything, but at least living on campus forced me to get out of my comfort zone and face some of my social anxieties. It also enabled me to study and collaborate with others. I have fond memories of all-night cram sessions with classmates in some rando common area or someone’s dorm room. There all were all the group assignments that involved impromptu meet-ups in the computer lab. Stuff like this is the nursery ground for networking.
I don’t think there’s a stigma of living at home. Is there?
Not anymore. It’s become so common even for people in their 30’s.
They have no choice. The cost of an apartment has gotten so high. Most major colleges are in “college towns” (yea, duh) well those towns like say Boulder Colorado or Madison Wisconsin or Austin Texas have seen real estate prices go crazy high.
Then fewer apartment owners want to rent an apartment to someone only wanting to rent 9 months of the year. Then add in not just high rent but a high deposit and strict rules on things like litter, partying, and how many people can be in the apartment so yes, the students are going back to the dorms.
Here in Kansas City the home prices around UMKC and the KU Medical Center have gotten pretty high. KU Med is particularly bad because their is no on campus housing so all the students and staff must drive in and find parking.
I just got back from moving my daughterish and their friends into a dorm. I myself did commuter college recently where I took half my coursework online. She just did a year of community college instead of a Senior year in high school. I did a large public school with both commuters and dorms.
If you have the choice and can afford it, and if its suited to you, residential college offers experiences other sorts of education don’t. They do put away their phones and talk. They participate in activities with their peers - clubs, student government. They form study groups and talk about the books and lectures. They go to lunch and dinner together. They have great access to their professors, since almost everyone is on campus all the time - dropping in for office hours isn’t a big deal.
They also provide the opportunity to leave home - my daughterish is in Massachusetts, we are in Minnesota. That builds confidence and provides a safety net.
They build networks in ways that non-residential campuses can’t. There is a “we are all in this together” that you don’t get from commuter schools. You will almost be forced to meet people. This is especially true of small colleges. My husband has gotten jobs - 20 years later - through his SLAC alumni network. And while there isn’t a social stigma to living at home, there is a social advantage to having a residential college experience on your resume. Many colleges have a requirement that you live on campus your first year or two - because they’ve discovered that even if you can commute to school, you do much better and are much more likely to graduate if you get yourself tied to the whole college experience.
And its fun. Its fun to live in an environment where your responsibilities and social life are all there in an enclosed area. Where there are always things to do, people to socialize with. Where, yes, every Friday night you can find a party if you want. Or someone to play Magic with.
When I went back to school about ten years ago, I went to a commuter college - no dorms at all - and took about half my coursework online. On line discussions were a joke - they become a way for students to check off “I participated in discussions this week” - but once that box is checked, they don’t come back to create an actual discussion, like happens here. Online group assignments were a joke - we were always supposed to get together in person, and never did - it was too complicated. I met people I saw regularly - and formed no connections. Professors were mostly adjunct, getting to see them was a pain in the back end since their office hours were off times and they were distant - you had to make a real effort to visit a professor.
When my daughterish did their year of community college - it was ok. The caliber of learning and the expectations were not anywhere near where their SLAC are. They did offer clubs and activities, but since most students had their own friends and activities locally, they weren’t well attended. And it was really easy to remain in their old life - granted community college was a temporary thing for them - but it is so easy to keep your old patterns while living in your old room with your parents in the house.
If what you want is to simply learn, there isn’t any point to college at all, Great Courses off a streaming service and a library card an access to a good library will fill all the needs of a traditional college education. Why go to lectures when you can read or experience the lectures from the comfort of your own living room. If you extend the purpose to getting a grade followed by a degree, we could hire people to grade the papers you write off watching Great Courses lectures. But college has never been either about merely learning or merely getting a grade. Its about creating well rounded people - and that means actually exposing them to other in the flesh people.
And all of this is merely the social aspect of dealing with people in real life. There are other advantages to college life - access to libraries with unique collections, access to labs and equipment.
The final point is itd a mark of privilege to assume everyone has a campus within an easy commute. And that campus will be decent and offer degrees in fields you are interested in that are respected. That isn’t the case out here in fly over country - where you might have to commute two hours to the nearest school - and if it snows you aren’t getting there (or getting home). That’s far different than rolling out of bed and being in class eight minutes later - it takes three to pull on new clothes and run a brush through your hair and over your teeth and four to get to class in the building next to your dorm). In the middle is the community college experience of my daughterish’s Senior year…get out of bed and hit the car three minutes later…but now have a six mile commute that takes twenty minutes in traffic - more if there is rain or snow - before you park and now have a five minute walk to class. Now you are adding a few hours to your week in time that is usually completely wasted - communting for most people isn’t relaxing, it isn’t productive, it isn’t fun.