UL Student Life conducted a Commuter Student Survey during the 2024/2025 academic year to better understand the experiences of students travelling to campus. This was prompted by the long-standing Commuter Hub initiative becoming busier year on year, highlighting a worrying trend that had largely gone under the radar. In 2026, UL Student Life published the Commuter Student Survey Report, which reveals the significant challenges faced by commuter students at University of Limerick.
Based on responses from over 1,000 students, the report highlights how long-distance travel, housing shortages, and transport barriers are impacting students’ academic performance, finances, wellbeing, and sense of belonging.
The findings paint a stark picture:
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60% of commuter students travel more than one hour each way to campus
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97.7% report that commuting negatively impacts their academic performance
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56.4% spend €40 or more per week on commuting costs
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Nearly half (48.6%) say commuting makes social engagement very difficult
Students also described the added pressures of balancing long commutes with study, work, and family responsibilities. These experiences are deeply shaped by the ongoing housing crisis. With insufficient affordable accommodation near campus and capital funding restrictions limiting the University’s ability to build new student housing, many students have no option but to commute from distant areas, including Limerick, Clare, Tipperary, Kerry, Cork, Galway, Offaly, and Donegal.
The report found that commuting not only increases financial strain, but also reduces access to essential academic and wellbeing supports, limits participation in clubs and societies, and contributes to isolation, exhaustion, and burnout.
In response, the Students’ Union is calling for urgent action to address these structural issues, including:
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Lifting the capital building block on UL to enable the development of affordable student accommodation
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Reforming timetabling and attendance policies to better reflect the reality of the commuter experience
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Investing in dedicated commuter spaces and supports on campus
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Improving frequency and reliability of existing services, and expand routes to serve student populated areas.
Read the full Commuter Student Survey Report here.