The Case for Staying Home for College

By Paul Broderick on June 6, 2017
14 Street Subway

Commuting can make sense for college students (via flickr.com)

The traditional college experience is intrinsically linked with on-campus living. Much of the sentimental value of college life is associated with the fresh start — moving out, dorming, charting a new course independent of your childhood. So as a commuter-from-home, a “townie” of sorts at a gigantic global university, the painstaking explanation of my living situation is frequently met with puzzlement, followed by: “why?” Is it really worthwhile to forgo campus life? The answer is a partial yes.

Here are five reasons why, for some, the nontraditional lifestyle of college at home can be perfectly fulfilling.

Cost

Staying home for school is financially practical, even if not entirely necessary. Housing costs are an insult to the brutal injury of tuition. Standard “room and board” includes a dorm and often mandatory meal plan, which together average $10,089 yearly at private colleges. Public schools charge an average of $8,887 annually, but this nearly exceeds average in-state tuition at public four-year colleges, according to the College Board.

Out-of-state and trans-regional students are additionally burdened by travel costs. Living at home eliminates dorm, travel and most meal expenses, which the strain of commuting, however mentally taxing, does not even approach.

Comfort

Second on this list normally occurs to students within their first month away — or week. Home-cooking, one’s own bed and bath, and on-demand privacy never go out of style. More practically, an off-campus base can expand a student’s resources for study spaces, food, and social hangouts during hours and days not in class.

Options offered by a home neighborhood permit students valuable flexibility not typically found on campuses, rural or metropolitan. The material and psychological comforts of home have personal value unavailable at school and can ease the sometimes disconcerting pace of college life.

Structure

As a pillar for time management — perhaps the single greatest challenge known to college students — commuting is a helpful organizational tool. Daily travel creates a neat schedule into which academics, extracurriculars, and social life naturally fall. Commuting compels students to lay out their time in advance and to stick to an efficient arrangement of preset on- and off-campus duties. With a clear distinction between school and home, commuters can approach college like a job — academics are business, but hours can be designated for leisure and social time. Or vice versa if the student is so inclined.

Connections 

Building professional and social networks will be easiest and most comfortable in your long-term environment, where links already exist. Obviously, the usefulness of your existing networks depends on your personal goals and where you call home, but if, for example, part-time work or other activities are important to you, staying near the home base of your connections can be a sensible option.

Independence (Seriously!)

Okay, last on this list depends on the character of your family. But home life can be more adultlike than you immediately think! Pew Research Center reports that 32.1 percent of millennials (18- to 34-years-old) now live in their parents’ home, and it’s not without reason the lifestyle has become more tolerable. Leaving home for a faraway dorm may be a leap of sovereignty, but of itself, is a commitment, like sleepaway camp.

Commuting, however, broadens students’ opportunities in ways inhibited by the constraints of campus life. Although you may not be able to host late-night ragers, living at home is nonbinding, and allows you to take command of your daily and long-term schedule. From lunch options to internships, home life establishes you in a world beyond campus, where you can find authentic independence unavailable at school.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format