Faculty and students see rising costs for next year
Tuition isn’t the only price hike students and faculty members are having to worry about.
The cost for parking permits will be increasing beginning July 1.
Utah State University’s Parking Advisory Committee has unanimously approved increasing parking fees – in some cases by as much as 114 percent.
The resolution is expected to gain final approval from the university’s Executive Committee within the next few weeks.
Most permits will see an increased price. The steepest hike will be to the faculty C1 permits, which are jumping from $90 to $150. Student B permits will rise from $35 to $75.
The increases are intended to pay for the university’s new $7 million west campus parking terrace, which is scheduled to open in the fall.
There’ll be more than 600 parking spots for residents of the student living center, now under construction, as well as for commuter students and faculty.
“There were a number of factors” for the parking increases, said Paul Sampson, spokesman for the Parking and Transportation Department. “The biggest was to finance the bond for new parking terraces.”
USU junior Marci Malone said she didn’t buy a parking pass this year because of the prices and she won’t be buying one next year either.
“They cost way too much. I would rather just walk to campus,” she said.
Prices also are increasing for students who live in central campus housing, jumping from $35 to $55, but residents of perimeter campus housing will see no increases.
Other faculty permits are going up too, including a $45 hike for permits to gated parking areas.
Tonya Triplett, a third-year physics professor, said she has no choice in buying a permit because busses don’t run where she lives.
“An increase in parking prices is basically a cut in pay,” she said.
University employees have the option of deducting the permit prices from their pay over 12 monthly increments. Students and faculty should see the benefits of the price increases, Sampson said.
“Building a new parking terrace allows more central campus parking and also helps everyone by providing more parking spaces so you don’t have to wait for a spot,” he said.
Parking prices are still competitive with other Utah schools. The University of Utah’s annual permit rate for commuter students is set at $120 while USU’s will be $75 after the increases, according to USU officials.
For USU faculty, the maximum proposed price for annual permits is $150, compared to permits at the U which can run as high as $416.
-dtrujillo@cc.usu.edu