On Tuesday September 25, we asked Oakland University students questions about commuting. We wanted to know the opinion of students, and the reason behind why they commute to school. We asked a range of 7 questions:
- What’s your name and major?
- What’s your class standing?
- Do you live on or off the campus?
- Do you live at home or rent locally?
- Where do you commute from (city)?
- How long is your commute?
- Why did you decide to live off campus?
The amount of students who answered the questions were 67 in total, it was one freshman, nine sophomores, 14 juniors, 32 seniors, and 10 senior +. Majors ranged from communication, business, nursing, engineering and more, which gave us a better pool of students. We were able to get a large spectrum of commuters. We had some students on campus, but many lived off campus. The closest off campus were Rochester, Auburn Hills, and Pontiac which is 10-15 minutes away. The farthest were Romeo, Armada, and Heartland which range from 40-60 minutes away.
“It was much cheaper, and I wanted more privacy than the dorms,” Senior Liz Starnes said. “I would have lived in the on campus apartments but the age cut off is so early I wouldn’t have been able to live there until my senior year. Also the food options were very difficult for me as someone who was trying to get healthy.”
The majority of students live at home because it’s cheaper, and some students have jobs near home. It’s simply more convenient for most. Others pay rent since it’s more feasible, and one student just wanted to live on their own rather than living with parents. Below we have a map that shows each students location, and it gives you a visual of where and how far OU students commute.
To see a map of where our respondents came from and how long their commute takes, click here.
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