Topic 8 On a Second Suburban Campus of a University

The second campus of universities springs up like mushroom in suburban areas in recent years. It is really hard to say when the first second campus came out, or which university was theorigin, but this pattern is quickly replicated, and now it’s challenging to find a university with onlyone campus.

The causes for this fashion may be obvious. Firstly, the new enrollment policy encourages universities to admit freshmen on a much largerscale than the past. Accordingly, the original facilities, including classrooms, apartments, dining halls, laboratories, libraries and the like, all become insufficient. Secondly, the land in urban area is costly, and universities can hardly afford it. A second campus in the suburb can not only accommodate the swelling student body, but isrealistically affordable and economical due to the relatively lower price of land and other essentials.

As a student of a university with a second campus, though enjoying more space, I have also experienced inconvenience between the two campuses, because of the divided education resources, the less direct communication with otherstudents and teachers, and the time- and money-consuming come-and-go. Therefore, we should think twice before another second campus is set up.