- A lack of publicly accessible transportation may keep some community college students from accessing a low-cost education.
- Research shared exclusively with USA TODAY shows a quarter of such colleges in Florida aren’t accessible by public transit.
- Colleges and local leaders can close some of these gaps with simple tweaks to routes or bus schedules, experts said.
It’s only back-to-school season for college students if they can get to their campuses.
About 43% of community and technical colleges‘ main campuses in the United States are more than a half mile away from a public transit stop, according to research from the Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation. Though this distance is short by vehicle, it can be a barrier to already time-pressed and low-income students pursuing the increased earnings a degree can offer.