New Parking Policy for Students

For the last decade, the university’s size and national prominence have increased and now require managing parking inventory in a manner that ensures parking is available to all permit holders. Like most urban schools, UMass Lowell parking is in high demand and we work to aggressively manage parking supply to keep up with it.

With more than 30 surface lots and five parking garages on campus, procedures and regulations have been established to help provide for the most efficient use of our available parking inventory.

Summary of 2025-26 Policy

The university's Parking Committee, comprised of a cross-section of campus personnel, carefully considered and adopted a number of policy change recommendations for the 2025-26 academic year, which will be implemented for the upcoming year.

  • Student parking permits will be $450 for the 2025-26 academic year.

  • New Fall Semester parking permit - Starting in Fall 2025, students will have the option to purchase a Fall semester only parking permit for $250, valid through December 31. This new option is ideal for students graduating at the end of the Fall semester, participating in a Spring co-op and not on campus all year, or anyone looking to split parking costs by semester. Permits can be purchased online at myparking.uml.edu. Please note: if you need parking for the full academic year and choose to purchase by semester, you must reorder a Spring permit online before returning to campus in January, as access granted by the Fall-only permit will expire on December 31.

  • Expanded Eligibility for Commuter Upper-Class Permits - Beginning Fall 2025, commuter students with 45 or more credits will now be eligible to purchase a Commuter Upper-Class Permit. This permit provides access to both North and South Campus commuter lots, offering greater flexibility and convenience for eligible students.

  • The electric vehicle (EV) charging rates at UMass Lowell ChargePoint stations will change from $0.2055 to $0.2104 per kilowatt hour (kWh) on July 1, 2025. For vehicles receiving full output from a level-2 charger, this rate will amount to approximately $1.39 per hour. This per kWh rate is determined by the annual assessment of the university's utility costs, and all revenue collected from the stations is used to reimburse UMass Lowell utility accounts for electricity use.

  • Starting July 1, overstay fees will be implemented to help ensure electric vehicle charging stations remain accessible to all community members. Vehicles that remain parked in an EV charging space more than one hour after reaching a full charge will be subject to a $4 per hour overstay fee. While a vehicle is actively charging, and for up to one hour after charging is complete, only the standard per-kWh rate will apply.

  • Student parking permits will remain virtual and no physical decal will be issued. Access to parking lots are via your UCard, and access will be provided to those who order a virtual permit only to the lots where you are eligible to park (see below). To ensure vehicles are parking legally, parking enforcement will utilize a License Plate Recognition (LPR) system, which uses a handheld camera to scan license plates to verify they are connected to a valid permit for the parking lot.

  • Please review the Transportation Services hours of operation and service lines which will be updated throughout the summer, as well as other sustainable transportation options.

Student Parking Locations for 2025-26

Please go to the Parking Locations webpage for a complete listing and maps of parking facilities. The following is a summary of student parking locations for the 2025-26 academic year:

  • Freshmen and Sophomore Commuter Students*:
    • South Campus
      • Broadway/Riverview Lot
      • Coburn Lot
      • South Garage
  • Junior, Senior and Graduate Commuter Students:
    • East Campus
      • East Garage
    • North Campus
      • North Garage Floors 1-2
      • Riverside Lot A
      • Riverside Lot B
    • South Campus
      • Broadway
      • Coburn Lot
      • South Garage
  • East Campus Resident Students except River Hawk Village (Bourgeois, Donahue, Fox, Leitch, University Suites):
    • East Campus
      • East Garage
      • Fox Lot
      • Perkins Lot
  • River Hawk Village Resident Students:
    • East Campus
      • Hall Street Garage
      • Lawrence Drive Lot
      • Perkins Lot
  • South Campus Resident Students (Concordia, Sheehy, Riverview Suites):
    • South Campus
      • Broadway / Riverview Lot
      • Riverview Suites Lot (surface lot only; garage reserved for faculty/staff)
      • South Garage

After 3 p.m. all students may park in the commuter surface lots on both North and South campuses.

*Freshmen are those students with less than 24 credits completed and sophomores are those students with less than 54 credits. Note: Junior status is 54 credits, but we will allow students with 45 or more credits to be eligible for upperclassman parking status.

infoUseful Parking Information

For more information parking, visit the websites linked below:

View real-time parking space availability in the north garage and east garage and live transit updates at campus maps.

Any questions regarding the parking policy can be directed by email to: UCAPS@uml.edu.