Alex Guenego
Ithaca College has raised the cost of upper-class student parking permit prices from $152 to $225 for the 2025-2026 school year.
The costs of both first-year and graduate students’ permits have not risen, remaining stagnant at $500 and $90, respectively. The college has not made any announcements regarding the decision and has not addressed questions about the price increase.
Ithaca College Parking Services, subsidiary of the Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management’s handbook contains a clause on the cost of permits, stating: “Permit fee increases for upper-class (Red) permits are determined on an academic year basis by ½ of the percentage of the tuition increase, not to exceed 5% in calculated cost increase, rounded up to the nearest even number.”
The new price of permits does not follow this formula. It seems dishonest for the college to not follow the formula they have outlined, but there is a clause that the school doesn’t actually have to follow it. It may not be dishonest, but it definitely feels like they are taking advantage of a loophole.
Ithaca is not a very accessible or walkable city, which means that it is not just a want for students to have their cars, it is a need. It is not possible to walk to a grocery store, or even grab a bite to eat on The Commons without climbing South Hill.
Ithaca does provide public transportation through the Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit. The buses have routes both on and off campus, allowing students to not only use the buses on campus, but also all around the Ithaca area. However, the TCAT only comes to campus about once an hour, pushing many students to bring their own cars on campus, despite the high price of permits.
Administration admitted in an interview with The Ithacan that some decisions are made in favor of incoming students, rather than the students who actually go to the college.
The raised parking prices are a result of the college ‘nickel-and-diming their budget. If the college can make a few more dollars from its students, it can start paying back its deficit.
The actual students of the college deserve the same benefits as those who are looking to study at IC. The extreme price tag of their passes implies that the college wants to avoid first-year students to bringing cars on campus; why not raise the price of these permits tickets to further discourage first-years?
The lack of parking affects more than just students’ wallets. Being late to class because they cannot find an affordable spot, dealing with uncertainty or paying surprise tickets can harm students’ mental health and academic performance. Worrying about parking fees and fines adds stress, especially for those already stretched financially by various academic fees.
IC’s administration must reconsider the burden these parking price increases place on students. Students deserve affordable, equitable access to campus and throughout greater Ithaca, not another hidden cost of higher education.