Does your campus charge for parking?

[starrzone]

I am a university student, and the campus I attend has the following price structure for parking permits:

Faculty & Staff Parking Permit Fees (2009-2010)

* Full Year (12 month) -> $200.00
* 2 Terms -> $136.00
* 1 Term -> $95.00
* 1 Term (Part Time Faculty / Staff) -> $65.00
* 1 Month -> $27.00

Student Parking Permit Fees

* Full Year (12 Month) ->$130.00
* 2 Terms -> $79.00
* 1 Term -> $57.00
* 1 Month -> $27.00

The bolded part refers to my situation. Is it normal to charge such fees for parking? My campus is not in a major city by any means, there is PLENTY of room for expansion, and space is not a problem (i.e. the university has quite a bit of land to use). I'm ticked off because there have recently been many "improvements" to campus and I think that they're fishing around, trying to make up the extra funds. Of course, parking fees go up every year, with no improvement in the parking facilities themselves...

 

[Laura]

I go to Ohio State. Parking is INSANE!

Prices for students:
http://tp.osu.edu/students/parking/permitprices.shtml

 

[Christine]

My daughter attends college in West Virginia (not a big city either) and her parking fees are higher. But the town is "cramped" and parking is at a bit of a premium. I think it is normal to charge some fees. I mean there are parking lots that must be maintained and campus police to enforce traffic and parking, so there should be some sort of user fees.

Even at my daughter's high school (both in public and private) there was a $200 per year parking fee.

 

[sbsteel]

I graduated about 8 years ago and we had parking permit fees back then (and for the life of me, I can't remember what they were). Consider yourself lucky - ours were based on what color lot permit you bought. The further the lot was from the campus, the cheaper it was. If you wanted access to the parking garage next to the quad, you paid dearly for it.

 

[kayla87]

Yup, but I go to school in downtown Indianapolis. I wish my parking pass was that cheap!

 

[Deb in IA]

Yes.

STUDENT PARKING RATES/FEES
STUDENT PERMITS

Rate Basis
2009-2010
Day Registration Permit (A) 12 Month
No Cost for Permit
Night Registration Permit (J) 12 Month
No Cost for Permit
Night and Weekend Permit 9 Month Permit
$90
Hancher Lot 9 Month Permit
$288
Finkbine and Hawkeye Commuter
9 Month Permit
$180
Hawkeye Storage
9 Month Permit
$288
Surface Night (designated surface lots)
9 Month Permit
$207
Motorcycle
9 Month Permit
$54
S Registration Permit (Myrtle)
12 Month
No Cost for Permit
R Permit (Myrtle)
9 Month Permit
$621


And $60 for our daughter's high school parking last year.

 

[agnes!]

I'm with Christine, our local school system charges HS Juniors $200 for a parking pass.

agnes!

 

[Doctor P]

I paid $100 for my parking pass in 1982 at Northwestern University. Fees at local universities here average $100 for an academic year pass.

 

[Ariel Mae]

Our campus charges about 35$, I believe, for two semesters (fall/spring). I think it's 18$ single.

 

[Geoff_M]

Our local state university likes to promote the notion that their tuition is a couple thousand dollars less than their other counterparts, but we've discovered that's because they nail students with other large "fees" to mask things. For example, they charge a couple hundred dollars each for things like "move-in week" at the dorms and orientation. When it comes to parking, they clip students for $300 per year. They also are quick to tell you that you aren't guaranteed a spot... it's more of a "hunting license" instead of a "permit".

However, at the state university our daughter goes to... it's free!

 

[FireDancer]

I went to Cleveland State University and parking was $96 per semester for students when I was there from 2000-2003. It is now $160 per semester for students and $243 per semester for faculty and staff (or $636 for the full year).

 

[eeyoremum]

yep our college charges

it is over $500 Canadian a year both staff and student

 

[starrzone]

I go to Ohio State. Parking is INSANE!

Prices for students:
http://tp.osu.edu/students/parking/permitprices.shtml

Wow...it takes a degree just to read this link! From the prices I saw, though, I feel lucky.

My daughter attends college in West Virginia (not a big city either) and her parking fees are higher. But the town is "cramped" and parking is at a bit of a premium. I think it is normal to charge some fees. I mean there are parking lots that must be maintained and campus police to enforce traffic and parking, so there should be some sort of user fees.

Even at my daughter's high school (both in public and private) there was a $200 per year parking fee.

I actually AM a member of the Campus Police! The only responsibility we and the security staff have towards the parking lots is giving out tickets; there are no regular parking lot patrols. Security at my campus is a joke (or rather the officers they hire are; they get paid less than $9 an hour).

I graduated about 8 years ago and we had parking permit fees back then (and for the life of me, I can't remember what they were). Consider yourself lucky - ours were based on what color lot permit you bought. The further the lot was from the campus, the cheaper it was. If you wanted access to the parking garage next to the quad, you paid dearly for it.

See, I wish they had a system like this where we are. A space close to any building is impossible to get if you arrive to campus later than 9:30am, and as I said before, the lots are not patrolled. I do NOT feel comfortable parking waaaaay out in the unpaved lot if I arrive after 11:30am or so, but if the $79 were guaranteed to get me a prime spot, then I'd be all over it. Charge half as much for the "less desirable" completely unpaved lot. And don't get me started about the winter; the plows leave mounds of snow all over the place and don't clear it out, meaning that many of the "prime" spots are blocked.

Our campus charges about 35$, I believe, for two semesters (fall/spring). I think it's 18$ single.

Now THIS I wouldn't mind paying for! What makes me mad is that they had a referendum trying to get ALL students to pay an extra $100/year to cover a universal bus pass for students living off campus...ummm, at my campus, it's about a 75/15/10 ratio to people who take their own cars/ people who live in on-campus residence/ people who take the bus. How on EARTH is that fair to the majority of us who drive to school? Luckily, the motion didn't pass.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I went to Cal State Long Beach and I started when I graduated High School in 1986.

Our parking fees were $65 per semester. (and it was exactly as another poster said, it was more of a hunting license than a permit, good luck finding a space!)

I remember it because due to a generous grandfather, it was the only fee I had to pay myself.

 

[momrek06]

My DS' both graduated Providence College ('04&'08), RI. No cars on campus Fresh-Soph years. After that you MUST have a permit. No fee for the parking permit. It is first come first serve. They have a set number of permits they can give out a year due to space. If you do not get a permit and do park at the college, the fines are stiff.

DS#2 is now taking classes at University of CA/Irvine campus...yikes, it is like $10.00 to park nightly.

 

[okeydokey]

Yes, I pay around $250 a year.

 

[Piecey]

No, I park for free.

Seems like I am the only one, too!

I paid $35/yr in high school, though.

 

[Deb in IA]

OK, I have you all beat.

I am a physician at a university medical center.

No "doctors parking" for us, though.

In fact, I have to pay $82/month, or $984 per year for my parking. And I don't even get to use it if there is a football game or a basketball game - no, I have to clear out from the parking I ALREADY PAID FOR so that the parking nazis here can SELL IT AGAIN to the football fans!!

Now, does that stink or what????

 

[daughtersrus]

At IL State University, it's over $300 and that's not even close to campus or the dorms. They're remote lots that have shuttle bus service.

 

[NotUrsula]

20 years ago I paid about $120/year for second-tier staff parking at LSU, the same permit now is $250. We had the color coding system then, I know it had been in place since at least the 1970's. Now they have a combination of color-coding and assigned parking for staff. Then as now the student parking for commuters was all one price, but the commuter lots are all on the other side of yesterday; there are shuttle buses to get you out there.

I currently have to park quite often on the campus of a major private university here when I am doing work on campus. Their second-tier staff parking is $438/yr., (same price for students in those zones.) Their best spaces, which are close in but NOT gated or assigned, and thus REALLY scarce, cost $996/yr. Interestingly, the top and second tiers are often in the same lots -- the row closest to the building is one zone, but the next row is lower-priced.