The lack of available on-campus parking continues to be a top concern as students begin preregistration to secure spaces for next year.
In the upcoming academic year, 2,699 parking spaces will be available for both graduate and undergraduate students. The total student population is almost 27,000.
“Students are really overlooked in terms of parking on campus,” said junior Tiffany Bond.
About 4,070 students applied for permits for this school year, and 2,386 were able to purchase permits. The number does not include permits for the medical, law and business schools or for married student housing.
This year, construction projects eliminated access to both the Hinton James and Ehringhaus parking lots and a number of available spaces in other campus lots.
But with the completion of the parking deck at the Rams Head Center, a few more students will be able to purchase parking permits in the next school year, said Randy Young, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.
Some student spaces will be lost in the Morrison and Cobb lots, but students still are gaining a few parking spaces, Young said.
“Overall, there is a small net gain in student spaces for next year,” he said. “Students will not take as big of a hit as in previous years.”
The Rams Head deck provides 320 parking spaces available for students. The spaces offset the 240 lost with the closing of Ehringhaus lot, which Young said will be turned back into intramural fields.
