The end of the Commuter Campus

They are called commuter campuses.  Because students drive to them.  And then drive back home at night.  They cannot survive.

The reason:  Gen Y and future generations will not own cars. 

We live in a small university town with a state university of 5,000 students. The greatest number come from the Twin Cities, from 30-60 minutes away by car. 

But anywhere from 5 to 20 years (max) from now those students will be able to take high speed trains to other campuses much further away in miles, but much closer in terms of time.  There will be six high speed trains a day to Duluth and Winona and their universities, for example.

And, with no car, exactly how would those students get to our commuter campus in River Falls, Wisconsin? They can't. They won't. Instead they will "commute" by train.  It's time for colleges and universities to get serious about their future in a world of trains, and no cars.  Nine Shift is now doing research and strategic planning seminars for colleges and universities on this topic.

Comments

[Rebecca MB. Pearson]

We conduct several motivational surveys of our adult students and prospects and for the fifth year in a row, students (70%) still prefer to attend class in a classroom and their number reason for attending continuing education classes is to develop networking opportunities.

[Matthieu]

The human being isn't designed to sit behind a desk and learn in front of a screen. Online courses will never replace the complexity of physical human interaction. Even if commuter campuses have reduced interaction compared with universities and colleges where the majority live in dorms or in close proximity, it sure beats learning in front of a screen.

It is for the same reasons, in my mind, that successful businesses will never be able to cut business trips out of their budget: because you can't shake someone's hand through a screen.

[Willliam Draves]

Phil, you are 'spot on' about this. I totally agree with you.

[Phil Houseal]

I don't think you are going far enough. Why are colleges still apportioned territories as if this were the 1800s? We straddle the service areas of competing community colleges, and they dare not cross the line with offerings or student recruiting. When will college realize physical boundaries are meaningless, and take full advantage of online courses? Then no need for dorms, parking ramps, cafeterias, etc. Or is something else going on where physical presence is still important?