Mobility of Concordia Students
The student transit use survey for Concordia received responses from 195 students. The survey information provides insight into current transit issues including movement demands of campus students, perceptions of MAT services and campus parking, as well as campus public transportation and transit accommodations.
It is not possible with an electronic on-line survey to ensure equal participation from all students. However, there was a proportionate distribution from all undergraduate and graduate classes (Table 1). The junior class had the highest representation where all other categories were within 3 percent of actual class distribution.
Table 1. Survey Response Distribution Compared to Actual Class Distribution
| Classification | Actual Class Distribution (Fall '03) | Class Number | Responses Distribution | Survey Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freshmen | 29.66% | 847 | 28.21% | 55 |
| Sophomores | 23.00% | 657 | 20.00% | 39 |
| Juniors | 21.22% | 606 | 26.67% | 52 |
| Seniors | 23.81% | 680 | 24.10% | 47 |
| Graduate | 1.72% | 49 | 0.51% | 1 |
| Non-degree | 0.60% | 17 | 0.51% | 1 |
| Total | 100.00% | 2856 | 100.00% | 195 |
Of the 195 students who responded, 162 or 83 percent were female, and 33 or 17 percent were male. The actual Concordia fall 2003 enrollment consisted of 1,806 females or 63.2 percent and 1,050 males or 36.8 percent. The percentage of women who responded to this survey is notably higher than the percentage of women attending Concordia.
Student's employment status often influences their attitude toward and use of public transportation. About one-fourth of the survey respondents were unemployed (Figure 1). Just under one-fourth of students are employed off campus and roughly one-half of the survey respondents were employed on campus.
Figure 1. Student Work Status (n=195)
A further breakdown shows a high percentage of on-campus jobs are held by women (Figure 2). The proportion of females who held off-campus jobs was slightly higher than males. More males identified themselves as unemployed. There is no survey information available to explain the differences.
Figure 2. Employment by Gender (n=162, 33)
Whether students live on or off-campus was also evaluated. Approximately two-thirds of the students surveyed indicated they live on-campus. The results show that 95% (52) of freshman and 92% (36) of sophomores live on campus, with the percentage of juniors living on campus only dropping to 50% (26), and seniors dropping to 30% (14) living on-campus.