‘College Deserts’ leave many communities without higher education options 

FILE - The Cuyahoga Community College campus is shown, May 28, 2019, in Cleveland, OHIO.

“College Deserts” – areas where high schools are located more than 30 miles away from the nearest community college – leave large groups of people unable to pursue higher education because of transportation problems, Lexi Lonas Cochran writes in The Hill.

Most college deserts are in the Southern U.S., with a recent study in Texas showing that long commuting distances discourage many potential students from attending college. (December 2024)