Advantages of Attending a Regional Campus

What are the advantages of attending a university's regional campus?
Good decisions require sufficient accurate information. Deciding on a college or university takes not only information about the institution, but also an understanding of the student and their fit within a campus environment.

Levels of social and emotional maturity, independence, self-motivation, and academic skill levels are important information factors for choosing the most appropriate place to start a college career. In addition, consideration of finances, employment needs, commitment to relationships (you know the girlfriend/boyfriend factor), and many other issues enter into the decision making process.

To assist in deciding on the most appropriate college environment, this article considers the choice between public university central campuses and their regional campuses. As access to higher education was expanded in the 1960s and 70s, large state universities established regional campuses, extending the presence of higher education into outlying areas within states. Most of these regional campuses have evolved into full-functioning, degree- granting units offering academic programming unique to individual campuses, while continuing to offer general and liberal studies course work applicable to all university degree requirements. For many students, choices among public higher education institutions are between attending a central campus of a state-supported university or one of its regional campuses.

University Central Campus vs. A Regional Campus

Cost of Room and Board
An obvious drawback to attending a university's central campus, rather than a regional campus, is the financial impact. University central campuses most often have a minimum residency requirements for undergraduate students, requiring them to live in on-campus residence halls. The College Board, in their Trends in College Pricing 2000, indicates that room and board costs in 2000 were $6,209 at four-year private colleges, $4,960 at four-year public colleges and, $4,736 at two-year private institutions. These room and board prices have been increasing between four and five percent each year. This is a major issue for students and their families, since it represents a considerable expense.

Besides the expense of living in a residence hall, there is the adjustment to the communal living environment. For the majority of students, living with one or more roommates is a dramatic change from what they are used to, and requires considerable adjustment. The residence hall environment is, for many students, the most difficult adjustment in attending a larger campus.

Most regional campuses, however, are designed as commuter campuses with no residence halls or on-campus residency requirements. Students most often commute from their homes in the surrounding areas. As a matter of fact, the number one attraction of regional campuses is that they're located close to communities in which students live. Often, students will opt to take classes at a regional campus for the first year of their academic career, staying at home and saving room and board expenses.

Campus Size
Large campuses can be intimidating. Just getting from one place to another can create anxiety. Often, large campuses have mass transportation services that are difficult to get used to for anyone not accustomed to using mass transit. Parking is almost always at a premium on large campuses, and most often; student parking is very limited. A car can be an extra complication during a time when fewer distractions are important.

Besides the transportation and parking issues, large campuses are much more bureaucratic in the way they do business. They must be bureaucratic to process the large volume of students. Bureaucracies, by definition and design, are impersonal and matter-of-fact. And, though large campuses create ways to reduce their impersonal nature, it still exists.

Access to Services
Another difficulty students have on large campuses is access to services. Often, the demand for services outstretches the ability to immediately provide them. The bookstore, financial aid, health services, and academic advising all can be crowded and take some time to access. Of course, for students, a key is anticipating demand times and planning for them, but this can be difficult, especially for first semester students.

Regional campuses are smaller than central campuses, ranging from less than 1,000 to more than 5,000 students. Smaller campus size means fewer students, smaller classes, and less demand for services. Parking is less problematic, and access to the bookstore and advising is relatively easier. That's not to say that regional campuses are without barriers to accessing services, but that the number of students using those services is smaller.

Class Size
Another issue of larger campuses is the size of classes. There will be many classes held in large lectures halls with as many as 300-500 or more students. Often, students find it difficult to connect with lectures in this environment, which creates an added barrier to their learning experience. Large lecture sections are usually structured to meet in smaller groups once a week with a teaching assistant, allowing for a more intimate presentation and discussion of material. Many students find meeting in smaller groups helpful, but the continuous change in the class environment makes it very difficult to settle-in and feel comfortable with the class topics.

Regional campuses generally have smaller class sizes. Smaller classes create a more intimate, familiar environment. It is common for faculty and staff to know students by name and have opportunities for more extended conversations. This type of setting increases the ability for faculty to teach both formally and informally, increasing opportunities for students to understand the materials presented.

Instruction
University faculty have three traditional areas of responsibility: teaching, research, and service. Though these areas theoretically have equal weight, often, more emphasis and importance is placed on research activities because universities and faculty receive the most recognition and prestige for successful research. This often results in teaching and service roles not being given as much support.

Regional campuses have had a slightly different focus. Though the traditional faculty roles for teaching, research, and service are expectations for regional campus faculty as well, more emphasis is placed on teaching. This has evolved out of the regional campus mission of providing access to educational opportunities. Consequently, regional campuses have focused less on research. This enables faculty to concentrate on teaching skills and instructional development.

Though the quality of instruction will be high at any university campus, regional campuses emphasize the expectation for teaching quality which has an impact on the type of instruction students experience. Students who begin at regional campuses and then move to the larger central campus perform better, on average, than students who start at the larger campus.

Summary
For many students, the excitement and pace of a larger campus, combined with the variety of things to do, is part of the overall college experience. The vast majority of students learn to cope with the distractions of a large campus environment. They develop strategies and habits enabling them to consistently meet course work requirements and become successful students.

For other students, the chance to live in their homes and stay connected to their communities is an important consideration. These students have jobs, family responsibilities, and financial constraints that make it essential that they choose to begin their college education at a regional campus. And, there are students who benefit from starting at a regional campus in order to develop academic and/or independence skills before transfering to a larger central university campus.

Choosing the most appropriate campus environment to begin a college career requires individual students and their families to consider a variety of factors about the institution and themselves.

Provided by Dr. John D. Robertson, Marketing Coordinator Kent State University Trumbull Campus.