Kenzie Martz

Professor Denicolo

ENG 103

10 April 2022

Where’s My Money Going?

Have you ever been a victim of a parking violation? If so, think about where you were

parked. It’s most likely you went overtime on a parking meter, parked in a restricted area, or

maybe even in a handicap spot. These violations, though annoying, all make sense. Don’t park in

a handicap space if you don’t qualify to do so, seems quite reasonable. I began college in August

and have received three parking tickets, all being on Ball State University Campus, a university I

pay to attend. I was parked in the Atrium parking lot, located near the center of campus, on one

of the first weeks attending college and was unaware I had to pay $1 fee to park in that area.

Because I live off campus and drive myself to class, I was required to purchase a $100 commuter

parking pass so that I could park on campus. I assumed, since I purchased my commuter parking

pass, that I could park anywhere and parked in the atrium parking lot. At the time, I was unaware

that the commuter parking pass only meant I could park in the commuter lot. So, I was instead

greeted with a $20 parking ticket on my windshield. Despite the $100 fee, there are only two

areas the commuter students are eligible to park, both being on the ends of campus. Typically,

most colleges have fewer parking spots than they do students. With that in mind, though I paid

for a parking pass to park on campus, more often than not the lots are full leaving me with

nowhere to park. As frustrating as it was, I started questioning why anyone would feel the need

to purchase a parking pass with the possibility of knowing they might not get a spot. Would you

pay for a parking permit if you weren’t guaranteed a space to park? Students and their families
already pay thousands of dollars for tuition and fees, they shouldn’t be charged extra money for

parking just because they drive their own vehicle getting them to and from classes. Ball State

University should have free parking on campus for students because students already pay for

their tuition, students are on a low income as is, and considering extra costs, such as parking

fees, make the decision to attend more difficult.

Going to college is an experience that people tend to remember for the rest of their lives.

As expected, it also comes with a burden of stress and road bumps. A common stress for myself

along with the majority of college students is finances. College tuition covers the course fee and

the class itself, but excludes things such as room and board, textbooks, and parking. These extra

expenses outside of what I’m already paying for tuition are constant stress of wondering how I’m

going to afford the things that I need. A Colorado State University commuter student, Sophie

Roseman, expresses her feelings regarding unreasonable parking prices after asking her dad for

help buying her parking pass because she couldn’t afford it. According to Sophie, “Making poor

students pay extra fees makes it that much harder to get an education, creating even more of a

class division. These types of hidden costs discourage low-income students from pursuing

education, particularly because average incomes haven’t grown to match rising tuition costs.

Parking is a small example, but it perpetuates the same system” (Prittchet). Relating to Sophie,

it’s difficult to focus solely on getting an education when faced with a continuous worry of

finances. Now, not every college student drives their vehicle to class, some can rely on other

forms of transportation and don’t encounter paying the parking fees. For students that do and

have no other option, why create unreasonable extra fees regarding their own transportation, on

top of the already costly price tag in attending college? Instead, if you think about it, students are

almost forced to pay extra costs of parking every year so they can get themselves to class. If your
best option to get to school is to drive yourself, and you can’t afford to pay the parking fees they

are charging, then what? Do you not go to college, or do you just skip going to class? Ball State

University doesn’t think to give that option to low-income students who can’t afford it, they put

that stress on the students and expect us to figure it out on our own. According to an article

discussing student loan debt, “Nearly one-third of all American students now have to go into

debt to get through college, and the average student loan debt reached a record high of $40,904

in 2021. Collectively, they owe about $1.75 trillion. Eighteen percent of adults who took out

student loans were behind on their payments” (Daniel). Outside the 4 years struggling to make

ends meet while gaining that college degree, it’s shown to still affect people all the way into

their adult life. Experiencing these extra fees throughout college, while having an already low-

income, is a big responsibility for one person to take on. If Ball State University were to take on

some of these parking costs and didn’t rely on broke college students to fund their own debts, in

the long run, it’d benefit keeping the university in a good standing.

Revenues gained from parking fees and parking tickets are said to go towards

the maintenance, repairs of parking lots, and adding new lots located on campus. Essentially,

students like myself, are charged to park and are funding the upkeep of the university. With that

in mind, think of how many times you have seen someone working on repairs or maintenance of

these lots we pay to park in. I don’t know about you, but in my 9 months being at Ball State, I

have never seen anything be fixed, repaired, or added to any of these lots. It makes you wonder,

are we really being charged for parking, or are we being charged to fund something they aren’t

telling us about? Charging students additional fees just to park on grounds of a university they

fully pay to attend shows that the university relies heavily on these extra costs we are responsible

for paying, specifically parking, to pay off their own debts. Ball State’s mission statement reads
as follow, “To provide, support, and maintain a safe and entertaining environment for the

students of Ball State University” (About Us). Low-income, stressed, struggling college students

lack areas of support in areas, to help them succeed ultimately putting Ball State’s mission

statement in question. With the expense of extra costs in mind, parking specifically, it creates an

unnecessary amount of stress that’s not related to the success of education. With the assistance of

Ball State supporting, providing, and maintaining the mission set out to achieve, the university as

a whole, can act collectively to fulfill that mission.

Coming to college, I never expected these kinds of extra costs to be so unreasonable that

it would actually make me second guess my decision to attend. I, along with many others are

broke college students with low incomes who can’t afford paying this kind of money just so we

can go to class. Balancing the weight of classes and workload is difficult as is but adding the

stress of finances on top of all that makes reaching your goals feel out of reach. According to

Matt Reed, who discusses free parking at universities, “I’d bet money that part of the reason that

for-profit colleges never charge for parking -- at least, never that I’ve seen -- is that they

understand intuitively the effects of that sort of charge on students’ willingness to show up, and

to keep coming back.  Say what you will about for-profits, but they’re attuned to what gets

people in the door. In this case, they may have a point” (Reed). Paying to go to college and

receive an education is, as I’m sure many of us know, expensive and stressful as is. For a

university that centers around the success of their students, why make it more difficult to see

them succeed? I’m not usually one to ask for help, I like learning and figuring things out on my

own. But for the sake of my education, time, and money, asking for help is necessary. To Ball

State University parking office and Ball State University as a whole, we support and contribute

to the successes of this school, now we ask that you to support and contribute to our success.
 Costs to maintain the university I’m sure are quite expensive. The important thing to

achieve is to be a place that future generations will enjoy attending starts with the willingness of

putting the students first. I may or may not still be attending Ball State University, but in the near

future I hope to see growth in the Ball State parking office regarding parking options and pricing.

As a population growing university, it’s clear we need more parking options for students, faculty,

and visitors. The prices of parking passes and parking on campus take away from the success and

motivation of low-income students and will remain a negative factor of extra costs. Students who

choose to attend college do so for a reason and have a willingness to learn with hope of a

successful future. Parking prices, something that seems so small and simple, could rip that

willingness to learn right out of the hands of students like myself. Ball State University isn’t held

responsible for anyone’s college tuition, living expenses, textbooks, or parking. Allowing

students free parking on a campus that financially, we fund on our own isn’t outside the budget,

especially because we are the ones funding that budget. As previously stated, Ball State

University doesn’t pay our tuition, books, or our bills, we do. Being a low-income college

student has become typical in society but still hasn’t changed or become any easier for anyone.

As we all know beforehand, college isn’t cheap. Many young adults today don’t have the

resources to even consider attending college. Even for the handful that do, the stress of school

load on top of finances are overwhelming enough that people reconsider attending, including

myself. If extra costs in attending were reduced or even cut out, more adolescents may be willing

to consider and take advantage in the opportunity to grow their education without having the

stress of finances. If not free, adding reasonable parking prices into tuition, would be a great

start. Achieving the mission statement promised by Ball State starts with following it. Without

the support of students, Ball State wouldn’t be standing. To benefit and keep the reputation of a
diverse, growing university, live up to the mission of supporting the ones who contributed to

what it has become. In the world we live in today, I know that unfortunately, most extra costs

won’t go away. But let’s be honest with each other, life is already complicated enough without

the outrageous cost of parking passes and parking tickets.

 Bibliography

“About Us.” Ball State University,

https://www.bsu.edu/about/administrativeoffices/studentcenter/studentcenterprograms/
latenite/aboutus.

Kurt, Daniel. “Student Loan Debt: 2021 Statistics and Outlook.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 9
Apr. 2022, https://www.investopedia.com/student-loan-debt-2019-statistics-and-outlook-
4772007.

“Parking Permits for Students.” Ball State University,

https://www.bsu.edu/about/administrativeoffices/parking-services/permits/types-of-
permits/student#accordion_stadiumpermits.

Pritchett, Eliana. “Parking on CSU's Campus: Impacts beyond the Permit Price.” The Rocky
Mountain Collegian, Rocky Mountain Student Media , 15 Feb. 2015,
https://collegian.com/articles/news/2022/02/category-news-parking-on-campus-impact-
beyond-the-permit-price/.

Reed, Matt. “In Defense of Free Parking: Inside Higher Ed.” Confessions of a Community
College Dean, 6 Sept. 2018, https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-
community-college-dean/defense-free-parking.