Commuter students should be the centre of the campus

Commuter Students in 2023 have been at a major disadvantage.

It may be a group that has been a topic on the higher education policy agenda for several years, but they still seem to be easily forgotten about.

The recent public transport strikes have made it difficult for students who rely on it to get to and from campus.

Add the lingering effects of COVID-19 and the current cost-of-living crisis, and it only further exacerbates the challenges they face.

Walking on sunshine

How do we identify what a commuter student is? The traditional definition of student who lives off-campus, at home with their parents/ guardians, is outdated as it doesn’t consider mature students amongst many other demographics.

What I’ve found helpful is to separate the social from the practical issues of “commuting”. A mature student with a partner and/or children is unlikely to be as bothered with getting the same social experience as an 18-year-old new to university.

There are similar issues categorising them as students that live a certain distance away from campus. This is due to growing numbers of students living in purpose-built student accommodation and cheaper private-sector options further afield. Though they perhaps share some similar issues on the practical side.

A good alternative is identifying commuters as students with the same home and term-time address. This may also include estranged students, care leavers and distance-learners – though universities often track this so it’s possible to separate them.

Should we be asking commuter students to check a self-declaration box during registration? It would certainly be good for monitoring the number of commuters and for tailored communications. Picking a definition based on student demographics sticking to it seems sensible.

Life is a highway

Many commuter students report feeling isolated and disconnected from the university community, with limited opportunities to make friends. If we break down the “classic university social experience”, much of it doesn’t cater for commuters.

We tell students that groups, societies and sports are a great way to make friends. But with commuter students often coming from disadvantaged backgrounds and working one or two-part time jobs, they’re often priced out of participation and lack the time to attend.

An interesting exception to this is faith-based groups where commuter students from BAME backgrounds and religious-ties sometimes make up good proportions of their membership.

Student groups have little desire to continue running online socials post-pandemic. With the opportunity and demand to return to in-person activity, no-one wants to go back to doing zoom quizzes.

Peer support/activity schemes in halls are a great way of providing socials and advice for those feeling isolated in student accommodation. It’s understandable that this level of support is rarely matched for commuters, as they are often funded through accommodation fees, but it adds to a list of experiences commuters don’t benefit from.

Commuter student societies can be run successfully but it’s near impossible to organise socials that cater to all needs and interests and they often go through the “groups cycle” of being picked up by some keen students for a period and fading away when they graduate.

Most graduates will tell you the closest friends they made at university were those they lived with in second and third year in private-sector accommodation. Many commuters will get to graduation never having made connections as close as that.

Midnight train to georgia

The practical issues of commuting existed far before the transport strikes. Whether it be getting soaked by the rain at shelterless bus stops or finding out your lecture has been cancelled while you were on your journey there (neither are fun from personal experience).

Timetabling can be a logistical nightmare for commuters.

Whichever way you arrange classes for commuters, there’s a downside to the student experience.

Spreading them out across the week creates additional expense on travelling and frustration for students coming in for an hour or two. Bunching them together disincentives commuters coming onto campus on other days to engage in other activity.

With the ongoing cost of living crisis, it’d be unsurprising if commuter students weren’t looking to avoid being on campus to save on travel costs unless they needed to.

When they do get to their classes, some commuters have reported to have been locked out of lecture halls or reprimanded by staff when late.

During exam season when competition for study spaces is high, commuters are the ones to lose out, with little other choice than to remain on campus between classes.

With the commuter student rate only going upwards due to costs, it’s worth considering what we can do to mitigate for the practical issues that come alongside being a commuter.

Take me home, country roads

Universities have correctly assumed that most students are desperate for a return to an on-campus experience, the engagement numbers show this.

But, like many other things, improving the commuter student experience was lost when other priorities took over. The issues commuters had pre-pandemic have become prevalent again now and the work that was being done to better their experience needs to be returned to.

The important thing is to think strategically about it. Commuter students are too often an afterthought and being proactive about supporting the growing demographic is the right thing to do.

Universities do a great amount of work of external partnership work. Forming relationships with transport companies to create termly/semester passes that match the academic year for students to save money is a good move.

SUs might usefully commission research into the commuter student experience, and may be surprised about what is learned about a large population of the student body.

My plea to everyone that works in HE is to get commuter students, and the difficulties that come with being one, back on the agenda.