The disengaged commuter student: Fact or fiction?

Abstract

The majority of college students today commute to campus (Horn & Berktold, 1998), yet many misunderstandings about these students persist. The stereotypical view is that commuters are less committed to academic pursuits compared with their counterparts who go away to college and live on campus (Jacoby, 2000a; National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition [NRC], 2001). They’re distracted by too many competing demands on their time because of work or family commitments. As a result they aren’t as involved as other students.