The changes will provide more flexibility for most student car owners as well as new parking capacity.
Article updated Tuesday, May 14, 2024.
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Elon University will have a new approach to student parking permits for the 2025-26 academic year that will provide more flexibility for returning students and additional parking capacity with the construction of a new lot. Additionally, student parking permit fees will increase for the first time in more than a decade this fall.
These changes had initially been planned for the 2024-25 academic year, but will be delayed to account for changes in the construction timeline for a new remote lot. Elon’s student parking permit system will remain the same for the coming academic year except for a new fee structure that goes into effect this fall.
Under the new policy to be implemented for the 2025-26 academic year, students who are sophomores, juniors or seniors will still be assigned parking permits based on residence hall assignment, but these students, commuter students and others will have greater flexibility with parking access granted for additional lots.
Once the changes go into effect in fall 2025, first-year students will continue to be able to bring a car to campus, but they will be required to use the easternmost lot in the Danieley Center or a new 500-space lot to be built adjacent to the Gerald L. Francis Center on East Haggard Avenue. First-year students will be able to use parking buses, shuttles, E-rides and campus safety escorts to help them access the parking locations.
The changes will create more parking capacity on campus for most students, faculty and staff and will provide more flexibility during large events on campus such as admissions events, football games and commencement. The policy changes follow an examination of on-campus parking against the backdrop of growth at Elon by an ad hoc committee appointed earlier this year.
“We think students will find this policy offers them more value from their parking permit since they will be able to choose from a broader range of lots,” said Campus Safety & Police Chief Joe LeMire.
The parking committee examined Elon’s parking permit fees and found them considerably lower than peer institutions in North Carolina and nationally, due in large part to the lack of increases for at least 13 years. Among 33 schools examined, Elon’s annual student parking permit fee of $160 was the eighth lowest.
Beginning in fall 2024, the student parking permit fee will increase to $225, remaining lower than the average among peer, aspirant and many North Carolina institutions. Global Neighborhood residents will see their permit fee increase from $50 to $100. The reduced rate accounts for residents losing access to the Global lot multiple times during the year during some athletics contests or special events.
The university will continue to monitor parking trends and challenges, with the new first-year student parking policy implemented as a pilot program. Future decisions will be made based on an analysis of data from the first several years of the pilot.