Saturday, October 17, 2015
Research Blog #3: How Does Privatization Affect Students' Living Arrangement Decisions?
The continuous steep rise of college tuition, a phenomenon due to the privatization of higher education, plays an important role in students' living arrangements during their college years. For many students who commute, the choice to do so stems from the fact that they are already paying so much for tuition that adding on another many thousands of dollars per semester for dorming on campus is out of the question. Many students commute to save money in a number of ways. For example, other than dorming expenses, many commuters also cut out meal plan costs, which are very expensive in itself. Of course commuter students have to pay gas and parking expenses, however this is not as much as students who live on campus, or even in "off campus" apartments, but still not considered to be a commuter. According to Rutgers University's website, tuition and fees for both commuter and on campus students are $11,217 and $2,914 per year, respectively. However for on campus students, Room and Board costs them, at minimum, $12,054. These numbers show that room and board cost more than tuition! Commuter students are saving about $12,000 a year. Four years later, that would be about $48,000, without taking into consideration the interest that would accumulate on this amount. So although many papers that discuss the negative effects of commuting on students, one must ask, "are these minor social shortcomings and missed engagement opportunities worth $48,000 (for Rutgers, but much, much more for other universities).
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I think the framing here is good, but you need to think in broader terms: yes, privatization puts more financial pressure on students, pushing more to choose commuting over living on campus. But what do you make of that? One thing worth noting is that the lives of commuters and those living on campus are very different, rather like two worlds, and so the commuter vs on campus divide likely is also a class divide and likely magnifies the issues of class discussed by Armstrong and Hamilton. Basically, commuter students are probably at even greater risk of becoming "social isolates," more focused on work than school and less likely to make friends on campus.
ReplyDeleteBy the way: you should do a little more math also. How much does it cost for a college student to commute? Thankfully, gas prices have come down tremendously in just the past couple of years -- which may have triggered a rise in commuting (which might explain why we have three students in our class working on that topic). And one advantage of commuting is that the costs involved with it are paid over time -- every time you fill the tank, make a car payment, pay for insurance, pay for repairs, pay for parking, pay for food at the food court, and pay a ticket. But you are still paying a considerable amount, which means you can't consider commuting as "free" when making a comparison to living on campus. If students have a car payment to make, that alone could be in the range of $300 per month. Do the math and look at the full equation.
That said, I agree that commuting must be a cheaper option, especially with Rutgers located in the center of the state and gas prices so low. For some students, living at home might be "free" for them, with free room and board and even a free car to borrow. But it is not that easy for others.