You don't have to juggle your schedule to avoid rush hour. In building dorms, colleges have counted on a booming economy. Students at small regional colleges choose to live on campus when they can afford it. If the economy slowed, some would live at home. Colleges would then find themselves with empty beds and less revenue to pay off their construction debts.
Times are good.
People are only restricted to commuting for economic reasons. No institution is immune to that. The demand for technology has been another factor driving the college construction boom. Today's high school graduates lug laptops to college and expect their dorm rooms to have desk, bed, and computer connections to the campus network. Rare is the college that lacks a classroom building packed with video-conferencing and Internet equipment.