Students living at home - maybe an expected but saddening trend

[mids2019]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g09p93m29o

Anecdotally this is really becoming a thing and due to costs students are eschewing the whole student experience of living away from home. As well as cost savings I think there is a perhaps savvy realisation that being thrown into a house or hall with strangers is maybe a step too far from an exploratory point of view. No one wants to be quiet one in a party flat or corridor for instance. In addition I think parents of girls fully realise some of the dangers of being away from home for an extended period perhaps for the first time combined with plenty of access to drugs and alcohol is not perhaps the safest.

However could the prospect of university just being an extension of school from a living point of view limit social mobility with students preferring a home town university to one some distance away with a better reputation?.Does work need to be done (and ideally in some fantasy world funded)_to ensure working class kids are not being put off well regarded unis because of distance?

I have never drunk or taken drugs, though am very sociable. I grew up quickly by leaving home at 18. Of course it was not all fun and games but I never lived at home again after graduating and was fully independent. I have no regrets.

I have one recent graduate child and one still at university. Neither considered staying at home and we wanted them to go. We live in London and I wanted them to realise that there is a world outside London.

Both mine lived at home for uni.
my eldests campus doesn’t have halls so it wasn’t a choice if she studied there and my youngest decided that was best for her too.
eldest now works in London, very independent, got a great career. Youngest is independent and doing very well as she nears the end of her course.

neither regret their decision and I think if they’d gone to work straight from a levels they still
wouldn't have moved out so there’s no real difference for me

Don’t worry too much. Of course we need to teach our kids to be safe, respect others etc. But Mumsnet does attract a particularly anxious crowd.

I was a very sheltered child and went to a big city university in the early 90s. I was fine and surrounded by decent men and women. My kids who are at University now (one has just left) not experience extremes of violence or misogyny, nothing close. Of course it exists but their universities were certainly not hotbeds of delinquency and drug taking for them. My kids are not ‘alpha’ types and neither was I. But we all did well and had good experiences.

Try not to let scare stories put you off too much.

I'd say there is already a polarisation, even between all the students who live away for university. Family money, work connections, parents living in London or a well connected city make it much easier for some students to obtain and be able to take up internships or a year in industry or graduate job or a postgraduate degree (fees in London are 16-24000 for stem masters)

The undergrad degree is just the start of it. It doesn't necessarily open the doors and those with money and London dwellers are better able to mitigate that.

Yes, they would have, but for one of them actually I think they probably would have chosen a different path/career because they REALLY didn't want to go. The other wouldn't have done it but it wouldn't have been first choice.

As a lecturer, I do find this a bit of a saddening trend, academically as well as socially. I wouldn't want to romanticize the whole student kitchen/disagreeable flatmates/homesickness/clubbing aspect of student life, though I do think there's something to be said for moving on and out of the parental home at 18, if it's affordable and feasible.

But train strikes and cancellations, traffic, cars that break down and so on have had an impact on attendance (whether they are true or not, and sometimes they probably aren't, to be fair) - and, more concerningly from my perspective, commuting seems often to lead to an attitude of 'what's the point of being on campus for anything other than a lecture/seminar' - whereas once students would, or at least should, have spent the time between taught sessions in the library, or socializing, or reading, or whatever, there's a new sense that campus only exists for taught sessions. So students are constantly asking if all their classes can be scheduled in the same day, or else it's not worth them coming in, and so on. Or, indeed 'I didn't attend the lecture as it was the only thing I had to come in for that day and it wasn't worth the commute just for that.' And I do find that a bit of a shame.

My dd comes home between lectures. Not because she wants to, but because the library and working rooms are too full or busy.

The union is so full there’s nowhere to sit.

That must be annoying for her - I don't mean to criticize students who think like this, necessarily, and I don't think it's all of them, but this is just what I notice in one place: may not be the same everywhere, of course.

Oh @ArseInTheCoOpWindow I knew I remembered the name from another thread.... it's clicked now.

My living on campus DC is suffering due to the timetabling being made favourable for students commuting. Her 8-10 contact hours per week take place over 2 consecutive days and there's no time to consolidate her lecture notes and understanding before she has a seminar. And lectures/seminars go on until 6pm. It's causing her angst.

But that's also the case when students are living "near" the Uni, rather than on campus itself, even in the nearby town. At Uni's such as Warwick, it seems most students actually live in Coventry which means a bus/car journey for most, so the same applies, i.e. students not finding it convenient to go in for just one lecture etc. From people I know who went to Newcastle, the "commute" could be up to half an hour from the areas where a lot of students lived. It's completely different from those who actually "live" on campus or at least closer to campus, which was more of the norm a few decades ago, before the expansion of Unis meant there wasn't enough "close" accommodation and people started to live half an hour away (or more) because that was where the "student" houses were being converted/built to house the ever increasing number of students. Of course, that means that even students living away from home in "uni" accommodation can still suffer public transport delays/cancellations, cars breaking down, etc., not just those who are still living at home close to their nearest Uni.

I think that's played a big part in the loss of the traditional "uni experience" where students used to live within the campus, or close walking distance, so would typically spend most of the day on campus, in the library, common rooms, clubs & societies, etc. Add the ridiculous covid restrictions into the mix in 2020 (and 2021!!) where libraries were closed/heavily restricted, common rooms and uni bars were locked for months, "In person" clubs & societies were outlawed, etc., and that was another nail in the coffin for the "on campus" student experience!

Yes, my son had similar, but in his case, it was mostly condensed into Tuesday to Thursday, with very little "in person" on Mondays and Fridays. He said similar that he struggled to find time to write up notes etc between lectures/seminars/tutorials as they were literally nose to tail most of those three days and he also had clashes meaning he had to catch up himself which he found hard in a few modules where there was literally no time between the lecture he missed (clashed) and the next lecture so the subsequent lecture was largely pointless because he hadn't had time to review the lecture notes/watch the recording before the subsequent lecture, so hadn't a clue what was going on!

I don’t think it’s anything to do with that. It’s to do with lecturer availability.

My dd attends local uni. They are in from 9 most days. And some lectures end at 6. She has to go in every day. Almost a full timetable.

I am programme lead for a degree course and I’d say 50% of students commute. Some from within the city and outskirts, some over an hour away.

We do condense the teaching into 2 or 3 days because that’s what historically students have asked us to do. Not just for the commuting students but also for those with part time jobs, if they know they’ll always have a set day off every week they could work that day.

sometimes students complain about 6 hours a day. But then if they ever do have a day with either just a morning or afternoon half the cohort don’t turn up as they can’t be bothered to come in for half a day 🤷‍♀️. And god forbid you try and schedule two half days in the same week, lots of complaints about too much travel time.

They must be studying a science or healthcare degree if that is the case. My eldest DC had the same kind of set up.

DC2's university department told us all on the offer folder day that they tried to timetable over 3 days to help students with other responsibilities or commuting in.

Living at home is totally normal and expected where I live (not UK) as most of the unis in the country ( including the top rated ones) are local to me. Seems to have worked out fine for everyone I know.

But train strikes and cancellations, traffic, cars that break down and so on have had an impact on attendance (whether they are true or not, and sometimes they probably aren't, to be fair) - and, more concerningly from my perspective, commuting seems often to lead to an attitude of 'what's the point of being on campus for anything other than a lecture/seminar' - whereas once students would, or at least should, have spent the time between taught sessions in the library, or socializing, or reading, or whatever, there's a new sense that campus only exists for taught sessions.

I couldn't agree with you more @CreativeGreen

It’s all conspiring against the traditional uni experience isn’t it.

Really it’s an inevitable trend. I many ways it’s a return to the pre 1992 or pre-80s era, in terms of fewer more privileged students going away and everyone else living at home. Then more of the non-going away group would have gone into work at 16/18 and some would have done courses al local colleges - many of which weren’t degrees, but have since become unis and the courses degrees.

It seems a smaller group than the full RG will become those where most students live away and are likely to be the more elite ones. London is a special case as it’s possible for so many to commute into its top unis. These will be dominated by the affluent. Other unis will have increasingly local populations and have a much wider range of backgrounds. It’s a polarisation of the system.

Probably in a generation or 2, no-one will be surprised that far fewer go away to study. It’s just that the parents of the current uni generation were the group that significantly grew in uni numbers, and the norm was to go away for that free or heavily subsidised education and living. It’s us parents who are nostalgic and want the same for our kids. Nostalgia for experiences of youth is v common place. Somehow because we went, getting a degree is about more than just the studying and course but equally about living away. But as many say, this isn’t the norm the world over and isn’t necessary to get a degree …but might be necessary for many to access an elite uni and increasingly out of reach to many. That’s what’s sad about the current trends rather than the decline in living away in itself.

Weren’t we lucky to grow up at a time when tuition was free or later heavily subsidised, and grants fully available or only small loans possible …and lots of opportunities for grads.

Its the fact that fewer are able to/willing to access it who could do the jobs that really actually do need a degree that’s the shame and reflects a decline in social mobility.

I saw a really interesting Ted talk posted by someone on here.One of the reasons for low wages is due to people not being prepared to move for jobs.

And this in turn was linked to people not leaving home to go to university.

DD is studying a post grad degree that will qualify her for a specific role. She knows that there is an oversupply of qualified people for her role in the city where she is studying, but she will go where the work is. Ideally, she would like to find work in the city where she did her undergrad degree, but she will apply for jobs anywhere (within reason).

We always encouraged her to spread her wings, and it helps that neither DH nor I live where we grew up, so it is the norm for us.

Mine are both 3hrs from home in different directions. One has a marine-based course (we’re in the Midlands) and the other’s course isn’t run anywhere closer. I think it’s done DS good to move away, DD would have liked to stay with us as she’s a real home bird. 2 sets of rent is a huge financial load, but we planned and saved to get a head start- appreciate not everyone can. I stayed at home for uni for financial reasons and did miss out on the partying, but from a parent pov that’s probably not a bad thing!

It will be to do with that, tbf, We've all noticed over the last few days that our teaching is similarly condensed: it's quite difficult, for example, to teach the exact same seminar to two groups, one after the other, without a break. And then go and deliver a lecture with enthusiasm and panache 😂 I'm not sure it's a good situation for either staff or students, really. Although you're right, we're less available for chats after lectures and seminars when everything is condensed in this way.

Commuting students was a feature of the Irish Times recent data on feeder schools to 3rd level. Its behind a pay wall but highlights that the further you live from a university, the lower rates of progression are. Close to Dublin you have 3 traditional universities to choose from all on public transport. And various newer and technical and private ones. Rural Wexford, Kerry or Mayo however, thats a commuting nightmare and a serious disadvantage for struggling families.

www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2026/01/14/six-feeder-schools-list-takeaways-education-gaps-remain-despite-progress/

Stats are 31% now live at home.
Lots will be for financial reasons. Many people have no idea how little loan is versus rent. My dc’s yr2 rent is £8,400 a year. If you can’t afford to pay it as a parent then realistically they will need to live at home.
Some will be cultural, I work in a city with a high Muslim population and see lots of females students commuting to local universities. There are several well regarded universities inc RG in easy commuting distance by public transport or car.