His classmate Abi Meredith agreed: “If you’re going to make people within that radius pay, they’re not going to come to college.”
Fellow A-level student Alfie Warner already walks because he lives within two miles (3.2km) of the Nantgarw campus and it takes him about half an hour each way.
He said it’s a challenge in the winter, adding: “It limits you sometimes for after school clubs because you just want to get home.”
Coleg y Cymoedd’s principal, Jonathan Morgan said around a thousand students could be affected by the proposed changes in the three councils’ policies.
He said 42% of learners at the college come from families where the household income is below £23,000 a year.
“To push further costs onto those families by making them self-fund transport is for me a step too far,” said Mr Morgan.