Ashland University students will experience an increase in the price of parking permits next school year.  

Last year, parking permits cost $50 per year but the price will rise to $80 beginning in the fall. The new $80 price applies to both commuters and students living on campus.  

Director of Safety Services Dave McLaughlin indicated that the decision was made after evaluating the current parking situation and benchmarking AU against other schools.  Many comparable sized schools charge higher prices than AU with numerous colleges selling parking permits that cost over $100 a year.  Some schools even charge $150 to $200 for a permit.

Although $80 still remains low compared to the competition, McLaughlin emphasized that they did not want to increase prices substantially in a short time period.

“We’re not going to jump up from $50 to $175 a year,” he said. “That isn’t fair to the students.”

He said the department conducts lot surveys to determine the capacity of the location and the number of open parking spaces.  He indicated that it is always beneficial to keep a certain number of spots available for visitor parking in certain lots such as Clayton.  Unlike other universities, he indicated that they do not oversell permits, which means the number of available parking spots is less than the amount of issued permits.

Despite the higher price, McLaughlin does not expect the change to affect the amount of permits issued each year.  He believes that students will still purchase parking passes since the $30 was not a dramatic decrease.

“We thought going from $50 to $80 was a reasonable jump for students,” he said. “We didn’t want sticker shock for everybody, especially returning students.”

Overall, students had mixed reactions regarding the new price.  

Senior James Kirtland explained that with a higher price students should be provided more flexibility and have the ability to park in different lots.  Despite the increase, he feels students will still buy parking permits.

“People don’t really have a choice if they have a car,” Kirtland said.

Freshman Clayton Hrinko expressed similar sentiments and does not believe it will significantly impact whether students buy parking permits.

“A lot of people who have cars on campus use it enough to justify the $80,” Hrinko said.

He also acknowledged that the costs could be higher like similar schools in the area.

“It’s frustrating how they’re raising prices but it’s so cheap compared to other places,” Hrinko said.