The parking-pass price increase leaves a sour taste in some students’ mouths while others see it as just another expense.
Just before the start of fall semester, Dixie State University administration increased parking prices to $50. The new passes are meant to hang on students’ rearview mirrors instead of the smaller stickers used before. The update to the passes is part of a university-wide rebrand, which includes signs around campus and the fight song.
“I like that [DSU] is trying to have a more ‘university’ image,” said Caroline Nielson, a junior biomedical science major from Heber City. “The parking passes are just another step toward a more grown-up look.”
The $10 increase covers the cost of manufacturing the new passes and keeps students from scraping the stickers off their windshields once they expire.
Fees also help to maintain parking facilities, like the various lots around campus. Parking passes allow the university to differentiate between faculty and students and allot a certain amount of spaces to both. The passes also help students by limiting the amount of spaces taken by outside individuals.
“Raising the prices of anything is going to make someone mad,” Nielson said. “If [the price increase] is going to benefit the school, then I’m willing to pay it.”
The new passes come with a disclaimer on the back stating the possession of the pass itself does not guarantee a parking space. Some students have raised concerns about the amount of spaces on campus.
“I think I would be more willing to pay $50 for a pass if I knew that I didn’t have to get to class way before to get a space,” said Dakota Bird, a junior criminal justice major from Smithfield.
Bird said even without the addition of the Human Performance Center, which will take away some of the parking spaces available by the Student Activity Center, it’s a struggle to find a place to park.
“A lot of my professors joke that if we give it a week or two, more [spaces] will open up,” Bird said. “It just doesn’t seem like [students] are being heard when we complain about parking.”
