Eman Ghacham/The Cougar
The Fall semester is coming to an end and students are preparing to apply to classes, purchase their preferred meal plan and acquire their parking permit.
A primary concern on many students’ minds is the rising cost of these essentials.
One of the most noticeable price hikes has been in parking permits, sparking concern among students about how these increased costs impact their daily budgets and long-term savings.
“The permit to park is way too expensive for the quality that it is and it is affecting my savings,” said communications freshman Nadia Cruz. “If the price were to increase, the garage should be safer and more security should be added.”
Financial strain is a common struggle for college students, especially those relying solely on FAFSA support, which often doesn’t cover all tuition and living expenses.
Additional disruptions—such as parking restrictions on game days—further frustrate students, who find it unfair to pay full price for a permit they can’t always use.
“It’s ridiculous how expensive parking permits are during game days, I feel like I should have access to the parking garage that I pay for, but have to park elsewhere which is annoying,” said nursing freshman Nadia Badillo. “A lot of us are paying out of pocket and it’s not our parents paying.”
Price increase implementation
Though parking prices are one of the biggest concerns for students, the UH marketing and communications department has assured students that parking prices will not be increasing for the 2025 Spring semester.
However, students might see a rise in price during the 2025 Fall semester. The price increase would include Zone B and C to go from $275 to $300 and $327 per semester in 2026 and 2027.
All other parking zones are currently $250 and would increase to $258 and $268. Tiers 1 and 2 will not increase during 2026 and 2027.
This price raise was recommended by the Transportation and Parking Advisory Committee but has not yet been approved by the UH System Board of Regents.
“As an auxiliary service, we are required to be self-sustaining financially and cover all our expenses,” said executive director of media relations Kevin Quinn.
Price increase rationale
UH Parking and Transportation services is adding new safety features such as parking gates, entrance and exit security cameras and elevator life cycle replacements and renewals.
“The upcoming increase would affect me since I have to pay for extra materials outside of the tuition,” said psychology junior Jaleesa Gonzalez. “I feel like they’ll add more security features since there’s been a lot of thefts but I myself have not seen too much improvement in the garage from my time here.”
Furthermore, the funds from the proposed increase in tier 3, tier 4 and specialty parking areas will maintain the ongoing lighting project. Zone E, which is part of tier 4, will be resurfaced to provide better use of the parking spaces.
“The increase is a necessary cost of doing business since parking is an auxiliary service and its budget to operate is primarily from parking permit fees for student, faculty and staff parkers,” Quinn said. “All funding is directly invested back into the program to ensure safety and efficiency.”
Although there has been an increase in permit fees throughout the years, UHPT had to reduce their budget by 40% causing them to decrease their staffing by 43%. UHPT is now using more technology to manage parking on campus.
Prices and developments over the years
From 2019 to 2023 operational facilities and parking equipment costs went up by 114% due to the inflation of labor, costs of goods and services needed for the UHPT to be able to conduct their service effectively.
Over the last five years the total semester average increase across all parking permits was $38.
Despite the 114% inflation increase, UHPT has been continuing amenities and programs such as the Cougar Ride, the Cougar Line shuttle service, the Sugarland Shuttle and COAST.
Additionally UHPT has been able to conduct multiple citation forgiveness efforts in partnership with the Student Government Association and reduced the price for Tier 2 parkers by $54 per semester.
Due to the increase over the last five years, UHPT has been able to expand parking and made ongoing improvements in already existing parking areas for safety and efficiency.
UHPT was able to build two brand new garages, the Elgin Street and Gateway Garage and construct surface parking lots at College of Medicine and UH Katy Instructional Site making a total of 4,500 new parking spaces.
They also added 24/7 customer service at all parking gates, reconfigured the Stadium Garage to maximize the number of permits that could be sold and added charging stations for electric vehicles.
The Welcome Center Garage will also be reconfigured to maximize the number of permits that could be sold, giving more students a chance to score a permit in the garage they prefer.
“It is worth noting also that University of Houston Parking and Transportation Services has been designated an Accredited Parking Organization by the International Parking and Mobility Institute, a milestone that only 44 parking programs have reached,” Quinn said.
Students on the price increase
Some students are opting to carpool in an effort to reduce expenses on gas and parking permits, but even when costs are shared, affordability remains a challenge.
Reports of vehicle damage in campus parking garages are common among students. While minor scratches are frequently mentioned, some students have reported more significant incidents, such as stolen tires, raising concerns about vehicle safety in these facilities.
“I have been carpooling which is usually around $400 each,” Gonzalez said. “This year it went down by $50 which is great but, I don’t think it’s worth it since I can’t leave the car unattended with peace of mind.”
Over the past few weeks, several cases of criminal mischief, damage to property, theft and burglary have been reported. Students can find the daily crime log here.
Though UHPT has been able to make various changes to the parking garages in hopes to be able to provide better quality and performance for students and staff, some students still feel like there should be security measures added if there is another price increase.
“I can understand that they are improving things but they should be more lenient of the students,” said Badillo.
