Matt Weir / The Collegian

When Candice Romano plans out her class schedule each semester she bears in mind the 84-mile commute she has to make from her home in Porterville to Fresno State. “I pretty much have a three-hour roundtrip,” Romano said, “and that’s if there’s no fog, it’s not pouring, no accidents or traffic. It makes it difficult.”

The 33-year-old English major is one of many students who commute to campus multiple times a week because of financial hardship or other obligations that prevent them from relocating closer to campus.

A report by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) defines commuter students as students who live off-campus while attending school. The definition can be narrowed down primarily to spotlight students who do not live within walking distance from campus and must make more of an effort to physically get to campus.

Fresno State is considered a commuter campus because of the large population of students who commute to school. Roughly 1,000 students live on campus, which accounts for about 5 percent of the entire student body, according to a study by The Henry Madden Library. A majority of Fresno State students live off-campus in Fresno or in one of the many small towns located in the Central Valley from Madera, Tulare and Kings Counties.

Romano estimated that on top of the time commitment she makes to drive to school three days a week, she budgets between $1,200 to $1,500 a semester on gas.

“I’m one of those people that ran out of gas one too many times in my adult life. I now have this concept that if it hits half a tank, fill it up,” Romano said. “I’ve gotten in the habit of every day before school I go to the gas station, so it’s like a half a tank every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at least. It takes a pretty good chunk of change.”

Elizabeth Silva said she has to get gas in her Nissan Sentra about two to three times a week because of her daily commute from Hanford to Fresno. She said she’s fortunate because she lives with her parents and they help her out with her gas expenses.

“The commute just sucks,” Silva said. “I used to live in Fresno and lived 10 minutes away from campus. Going from a 10-minute drive to an hour drive is a big difference.”

After living in Fresno for two years, Silva had to move back in with her parents because she could no longer afford to live on her own.

“I was supposed to graduate [last] May, but I ended up not passing a class,” Silva said. “I couldn’t afford to live on my own with the income that I had because I was working at Target at the time. So, I had to move back home with my parents, because that was my only option.”

Mandatory classes for her athletic training option were mostly at 8 a.m., Silva said, which meant she had to wake up extra early to deal with traffic to make it to class on time.

“I really didn’t have a choice, because the classes were only offered in the morning,” Silva said. “I hate it, I really do. I usually have to go every morning to get coffee, because I need to keep myself awake while I’m driving. It’s draining.”

Silva said the timely drive home always resides in the back of her mind when she makes plans to hang out with her friends in Fresno.

“If I was going to be spending time with friends I would have to try to find arrangements to stay at someone’s house, because I knew it would be too late for me to drive back home,” Silva said. “Most of the time, it just gets to a point where I say no because I have to drive home.”

Silva said with the amount of money she spends on car maintenance, gas and other necessities she purchases throughout the day, it would probably be the equivalent to putting up the money to live in Fresno.

“I never really sat down to think if I spend as much as when I was living in Fresno, but it would probably almost come close to it, just by the gas,” Silva said. “If there was something like a shuttle from Hanford to Fresno I would definitely take that option. I wouldn’t have to put the miles on my car and I wouldn’t have to spend it on gas.”

The NSSE study on commuter students focused on the time commitment students had to make as well as if they received the same quality of education compared to students who lived on-campus or within walking distance from campus.

The report found that students who commute are less likely to be as engaged in the campus community with co-curricular activities, internships, study abroad programs and community service, because their time constraints.

Romano said her commute prevents her from participating in campus activities and feels as if she’s leading two separate lives.

In Fresno State’s Campus Master Plan, one of the goals proposed by the school is to “broaden the experience of commuter students with diverse facilities and a range of transportation options.”

Amy Armstrong, public information officer for the University Police Department, said various programs offered at Fresno State are set up to help commuter students. Programs like the Commuter Services and Red Bike Program are designed to help lessen the cost and time most commuting students face.

Fifty-seven percent of seniors commuted compared to only 27 percent of first-year freshmen, concluded the report. Commuters were also more likely to devote more time taking care of dependants and working off-campus. The study found that overall, commuter students were just as engaged in their education as students who lived on or in walking distance of the campus.

Romano, who is anticipating a spring graduation, confirmed that she will earn her Bachelor’s degree in the expected two years since she’s transferred from Porterville College.

“Looking back, I’m grateful because I think I take things much more serious because it is more work for me,” Romano said.