Why do most N.C. A&T students prefer to stay off campus and commute? In 1990 there were 6,515 students enrolled at A&T. Out of those students, 973 were commuters and 2,542 were residents on campus. By 1999, enrollment had increased to 7,442 students. Out of those students, 4,499 were commuters and the remaining 2,943 lived on campus.The percentage of commuter students enrolled at A&T has not changed over the decade, remaining at approximately 60 percent.Lonnie Lindsay, a senior majoring in business finance, said he has never stayed on campus. Lindsay, a Greensboro native, lives with his parents and his younger brother on Guilford College Road. It takes him approximately 20-25 minutes to get to the A&T campus. He said the biggest advantage to staying off campus was not being in the campus environment too much.Lindsay believes one of the biggest disadvantages to staying off campus is access to a computer and parking. “If you don’t have a computer you have to go to the computer labs,” he said. Nicole Neal, a senior manufacturing systems major, stays at a location off Cone Boulevard, and said it takes her 15 minutes to get to campus. She said she moved off campus because she did not like dorm life. “I am a private person. Off campus I have more privacy and space,” Neal said.She that there were some disadvantages to staying off-campus, such as dealing with a car that is questionable. Another disadvantage, she said, was “having extra expenses that you don’t think about when you are on campus because everything is already pre-paid.”She also said parking was a big issue. “I have to park by Forest Grove because I do not have a parking sticker,” Neal said.Petrina Lyons, a junior majoring in business education/administrative systems, used to stay on campus. Now she lives off-campus with three other students on East Cone Boulevard. She said it takes her approximately 15 minutes to get to campus.Lyons believes one of the biggest advantages to staying off-campus is the peace and quiet. “The noise level was too high in the dormitories,” she said.Another advantage Lyons sees is that she doesn’t have to worry about what time to eat. On campus she had to eat around the cafeteria’s schedule, but now “I can cook my own food when I want.”Lyons also said that she has more privacy. She had to share a room when she was in the dorm, and now she has her own room.The biggest disadvantage to staying off-campus, Lyons said, is that unlike resident students, she can’t just stop by her room to rest.”In between classes I cannot go to sleep,” Lyons said. And if it’s raining, she can’t go back to her room and get her umbrella.Commuter students have some places to relax and study between classes, however. The commuter center is located in the Student Union and student lounges are located in many buildings.

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