Slippery Rock increases its parking pass price, opens new lot for student overflow
Slippery Rock University senior and commuter student Samuel Kightlinger said that for his 10 a.m. class last year, he had to arrive to campus at least an hour early to find decent parking.
Slippery Rock junior Daniel Rodenbeck said he has friends who plan their schedules around parking by scheduling classes before 11 a.m. or after 2 p.m. since they know most lots will be full between then.
“Sometimes you see people circling, like sharks almost, trying to get their spots,” Rodenbeck said.
The university upped the price of its yearly parking pass in March from $25 to $100 in an attempt to alleviate parking stress and balance its parking maintenance costs. It also rolled out a new parking pass permit system to reduce parking-related stress, beginning the 2026-27 academic year, according to vice president for student affairs David Wilmes.
The two new permit options cap the number of residential permits to mitigate overcrowding in parking lots and include an off-campus parking lot leased by the university at University Village off Kiester Road to provide additional capacity with regular shuttle service provided.
“Our new process should result in less circling while looking for a parking space, less frustration with overcrowded lots and less like a competition to get to class, work or home,” according to the email Wilmes sent to students at the end of March.
Students must pay $50 per semester to park on campus. The off-campus lot will cost $25 per permit. Incoming first-year students will have first access to the satellite parking lot, and the university will use a waitlist with a lottery system to distribute.
Assistant vice president of auxiliary operations and student services Chris Cole said the price increase primarily focuses on road repairs and developments. In prior years, the university was not generating enough revenue from the sale of permits to balance out the price of lot upkeep.
The new cap on residential permits will ensure that all commuter students can find a parking spot, even if it is not the most convenient spot on campus, Cole said.
A substantial portion of SRU’s student body are commuter students. The student population is around 8,000, and roughly 5,100 of them are commuter students.
Rodenbeck and Kightlinger, who will both be commuter students this year, are expecting the same difficulty as in previous years finding parking despite the residential parking permit caps and the satellite lot.
Rodenbeck said that he was OK with the price increase when compared with the price of parking at other universities and considering the affordability of Slippery Rock’s education.
“Even at $100, Slippery Rock remains one of the most affordable places to park among all Pennsylvania State System institutions,” Wilmes said. “Most of our peer universities charge between $150 and $225 per year, meaning SRU continues to lead the way in affordability and value.”
For La Roche University in McCandless, a university outside the state system, on-campus parking costs $100 for residential students.
Other universities such as Robert Morris University price commuter passes at $140 for a full-year, full-time student. Residential permits start at $200 for full-year students, depending on the lot that they choose.
Kightlinger was not as welcoming of the price change.
“I personally don’t think it’s right,” he said.
To get to class from his apartment, it’s a 30- to 40-minute walk. Between a car being a near necessity, the fear of being penalized for being late to class and the price increase, he said parking is “just becoming a bigger and bigger inconvenience.”
Those interested in finding more information on Slippery Rock University parking can check out sru.edu/offices/parking.
