STARKVILLE — Since transferring to Mississippi State University from Itawamba Community College in 2022, the cost of parking on campus has always been an issue for Madeline Comer. 

Last spring, Comer got a $50 parking ticket because her license plates weren’t registered properly with the university’s parking services, she said. Comer, a junior studying graphic design, called to dispute the ticket. 

For weeks, she couldn’t reach anyone on staff, she said. Two weeks after the first ticket, she received another $50 ticket for the same issue. She was afraid of racking up other parking citations that might result in progressively higher fines and a “boot” or wheel clamp. 

The citations would have strained her monthly budget as she juggles rent, art supplies for classes, groceries and other bills. 

After weeks of back and forth, parking services dropped the ticket. Comer felt relieved.

Then in July, university officials announced a major parking overhaul that included restructuring campus zones, revamping prices and implementing new tier systems to purchase parking permits. 

Comer knew parking fees would be even more of a problem. But she lucked up. 

She bought a $225 annual commuter parking permit after waiting nearly four hours in an online lottery to apply for her pass, unlike many of her peers, who ended up on a lottery waitlist or getting a pricier permit outside of their desired spot. The annual parking permits can cost up to $650. 

Her parking spot is in G3, a lot near Humphrey Coliseum, where the Bulldogs’ basketball teams play. But Comer’s parking spot is nowhere near the majority of her classes in Hunter Hall. She lives 15 minutes from campus, outside of Starkville, and commutes four times a week. 

Weekly costs for gas are now adding up, Comer said.

“It’s just a lot for my bank account to handle,” she said. “Not to mention the rent, groceries and art supplies I also pay for out of pocket.” 

Comer, who is paying for college on her own, works multiple part-time jobs. She is a house cleaner for Airbnb, a barista at a coffee shop and has taken on multiple side hustles as a freelancer, selling her art and designs online. 

Covering unexpected college costs

Mississippi undergraduates leave university with an average of $29,000 of federal loan debt, according to a 2021 report from the Institute of College Access & Success.

The rising cost of in-state tuition over the past few decades, along with additional costs of campus meal plans, textbooks and class supplies, laboratory fees, transportation and off-campus housing have made attending university expensive. 

At Mississippi State, tuition has increased slightly in each of the past four years, including a nearly 4% rise from $9,815 in 2023-2024 to $10,202 in 2024-2025 academic year, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics. 

On-campus housing starts at $8,456, and meal plans are $5,808 a year — a total of $24,000 for a full academic year. For out-of-state students, costs can soar up to $42,000 a year. 

While the cost for books and supplies have steadied over the past year, the cost of food and housing for students living on and off campus has steadily increased year to year. Data from NCES shows nearly a 5% increase in food and housing expenses and a 4% increase in other expenses between 2023-2025. 

Mississippi State officials said its new parking system allows students to pay less for a permit with guaranteed space, while other universities in the state do the opposite.

“The inherent value of our permit is significantly higher than that of our peers,” Sid Salter, a university spokesman, said in an email.

By comparison, parking permits at the University of Southern Mississippi are $167 for students and $414 for reserved spaces, according to the university’s parking and transit services website. At the University of Mississippi, parking permits for students are $395 for the 2025-2026 academic year. 

But for some students at Mississippi State, the price change for campus parking is just another cost to their already lean budgets.

Kenneth McGowan, senior studying computer engineering, said college students can quickly tally hundreds or up to $1,000 a semester in unexpected expenses. He felt blindsided by the price changes to parking, tuition and dining plans upon returning to campus this semester. He said he had to come up with more than $3,000 extra to get through the year.

McGowan isn’t alone. Nationwide, students reported some level of surprise with the full cost of attending college, including but not limited to tuition and other directly billable expenses, according to survey results from Inside Higher Ed’s Student Voice report. At least a quarter of students have trouble budgeting as a result, according to the report. 

In another set of findings in Inside Higher Ed’s report, 36% of students said an unexpected expense of $1,000, or even less, could threaten their ability to stay enrolled. Another 22% said the same of an expense between $1,001 and $2,500. 

The College Board estimates that indirect expenses can make up 40%–50% of the annual cost for undergraduates. The average full-time undergraduate spends $1,240 per year on books and supplies, according to the College Board report. An estimated 91% of American colleges fail to tell students the full cost of their college education, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. 

To make up for extra college related expenses, McGowan spends his free time with gigs including food pickup and delivery for GrubHub, UberEats and Door Dash. He also picked up another job as a FANgineer, working for catering and event services during Mississippi State football games. 

“The whole thing, it’s just kind of frustrating,” McGowan said of unexpected expenses. 

McGowan said he bought a $225 parking pass for the year. It was another hit in his budget, but he considers himself lucky. He parks his car near Sanderson Center, the student recreation hub, which is near the heart of campus. His engineering classes in McCain Hall are another 10-15 minute walk across campus. 

Eli Rowell, a senior studying graphic design, paid $650 for a North Garage parking permit. He was shut out of the lottery process once the university ran out of his preferred parking lot spot: G3, near Howell Hall. 

Rowell works part time as a bartender at Harvey’s restaurant in Starkville to pay for college. He received a scholarship when he transferred from Hinds Community College, but he is paying out of pocket for his next three semesters.

Mississippi State does a “decent job” of breaking down costs for attending the university, Rowell said. But research and transparency from university scholarship and financial aid offices are just as important, he said. 

“Education should be accessible to more people,” Rowell said. “Understanding where your money is going is important. The more information you have about costs, the better you are able to navigate your college experience.” 

McGowan said he wishes the university would be more transparent about price changes. He said he doesn’t know anyone in his friend group who had to pay less due to the changes made at Mississippi State. 

“I just don’t understand the reason or purpose behind it,” McGowan said of increased costs. “MSU used to be affordable.” 

Mississippi State officials said they’ve worked to modernize and improve the parking system to accommodate population growth and changing campus infrastructure. The changes were also to reduce heavy traffic, enhance pedestrian and cyclist safety, and increase usage of existing parking spaces. 

“The plan has worked as it was designed to work,” Salter said. 

This year, MSU sold parking permits on a tiered system, with different prices assigned to parking zones based on proximity to campus and desirability. The most convenient spots at the heart of campus, aside from North Garage, cost $375 for residents and $275 for commuters. Permits for North Garage, located at the center of campus, cost $650. 

For commuters, parking breaks down into four tiers, with the lowest level costing $100 to park on the outskirts of campus. Resident parking breaks down into three tiers, with the lowest level costing $150. 

Mississippi State officials were aware of the criticism from students, faculty and residents, including several petitions calling for the resignation of Jeremiah Dumas, executive director of parking services. 

“Parking is a hot-button topic, so such unfair criticism is neither unexpected nor unusual,” Salter said. “The university will continue to work and adjust as necessary to fix issues, but there are none we plan to address. Things are functioning smoothly.”  

It is unclear how much the university profits off of campus parking, but the revenue is used to cover the cost of parking operations, which is more than $2 million, Salter said. It costs an average of $5 million a year to maintain the parking lots and roads on campus, Salter said. 

‘Spending every penny’ to pay for college

Mississippi State offers resources for students who need short-term loans, food security resources, temporary housing assistance and access to devices such as laptops. The university also helps students find on-campus and part-time employment. 

When Comer moved to Starkville, she opted to not buy a parking pass. It was expensive. To save money, she walked 40 minutes from her apartment to classes, trudging along with her portfolio and art supplies. 

“It wasn’t much  fun in the heat and heavy rain. But I made it work,” Comer said. 

She tried taking public transportation, but a bad experience left her not wanting to ride the bus. During Comer’s first year, she was dropped off at a random location on campus and had to find her way back on her own. 

She worked multiple shifts waitressing at a local sports bar to save up for a car.  

Comer doesn’t want to slam her university; she enjoys attending Mississippi State. But she said as someone who is “spending every penny” to put herself through college, speaking up on behalf of other students can make a difference for future students. 

“Parking may seem small to some people,” Comer said, “but it’s just these little costs that make it really hard and often feel like, if you don’t have money, college isn’t for you.”