Parking permit fee increases, machine updates being considered at El Camino

By Joseph Ramirez • May 25, 2025

El Camino College Police Cadet Gabriel Staley, 19, places a parking ticket on a student’s car on Thursday, April 24. Parking Lot J is staff parking only and students who park there will receive a parking ticket. (Joseph Ramirez | The Union)

El Camino College brought back parking permits and fees for students in fall 2024 and is now considering additional changes, including increasing prices and upgrading its permit machines.

While students currently pay $20 for semester parking permits, they are much cheaper when compared to other community colleges in the state.

Currently the maximum amount students can be charged for semester parking permits is $72 as set by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.

Parking at ECC used to be free prior to 1988, according to past catalogs.

Debate over the pros and cons of charging students for parking first appeared in the December 1987 issue of the ECC newspaper, The Warwhoop.

A screenshot of a December 1987 issue of the Warwhoop discusses the pros and cons of charging students for parking permits at El Camino College. (Joseph Ramirez | The Union)

The first ECC catalog to list parking fees was fall 1991. At that time, semester parking was just $20.

By 1993, that fee was raised to $30. Semester parking was then raised to $35 in 2005 and stayed that way until parking was made temporarily free from Spring 2022 to Spring 2024.

Students are enjoying a 2.33% decrease in their payments for parking.

Staff do not pay for parking unless they wish to use special reserved parking. This costs $10 per month, according to Interim Vice President of Administrative Services Loïc Audusseau.

El Camino College Interim Vice President of Administrative Services Loïc Audusseau sits in his office in the Administration Building on Thursday, April 24. "The way we are processing parking permits works, but it is outdated," Audusseau said. (Joseph Ramirez | The Union) — El Camino College Interim Vice President of Administrative Services Loïc Audusseau sits in his office in the Administration Building on Thursday, April 24. “The way we are processing parking permits works, but it is outdated,” Audusseau said. (Joseph Ramirez | The Union)

ECC Police Chief Matthew Vander Horck said revenue from the parking permits goes toward funding the Campus Police.

Officer Mitchell Kekauoho said 6,447 students purchased a parking permit for the spring 2025 semester, generating a revenue of $128,940.

There are discussions happening at ECC to decide whether to keep the current prices or to raise them.

“I have been researching the other community colleges in California and seeing how much they charge their students for parking to see what we might be doing with our parking fees,” Vander Horck said.

In addition to raising prices, there are discussions of changing the parking permitting system at ECC.

“I am looking at companies that could install parking management systems at our college and their prices,” Vander Horck said.

Vander Horck said parking permit revenues would be used to buy and implement a virtual parking management system at ECC.

“Students and visitors alike would be able to purchase daily parking permits inputting their driver’s license information and would not have to go back to their car with a physical permit which would be flexible for events like graduation,” Vander Horck said.

El Camino College Police Chief Matthew Vander Horck demonstrates his California Sherriff Patch collection on Thursday, April 10. "El Camino College is thinking about charging students for parking what other community colleges charge," Vander Horck said. (Joseph Ramirez | The Union) — El Camino College Police Chief Matthew Vander Horck demonstrates his California Sherriff Patch collection on Thursday, April 10. “El Camino College is thinking about charging students for parking what other community colleges charge,” Vander Horck said. (Joseph Ramirez | The Union)

Many other community colleges in California are charging more than ECC currently is.

According to an email response from California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, community colleges are not allowed to charge more than the maximum fee of $72.

The chancellor’s office declined to speak by phone for an interview regarding permit fees and would only respond to questions by email.

Citrus College charges $70 for semester parking and Glendale Community College lists their parking permits at $75 on their website.

The Glendale Community College Police Department declined to be interviewed about why they set their price above the maximum cap of $72.

According to the chancellor’s office, Glendale Community College has not collected parking fees from students since 2020.

Glendale Community College has not updated their website to mention that parking is free.

Santa Monica College charges their students $50 a semester for parking permits.

Mitch Heskel, dean of Education Enterprise at Santa Monica College, explained some of the factors that determine their pricing.

“The City of Santa Monica has an 18% parking tax and we absorb that, and in addition, we built a new parking structure in 2018, creating more parking spaces for our students,” Heskel said.

Heskel said 4,734 students purchased a parking permit for spring semester 2025. Staff at Santa Monica College also pay $50 during semesters for parking.

However, after the recent fires earlier this year, there has been a drop in student attendance.

“Many students were displaced by the recent fires, and it has affected enrollment, meaning we have more parking than we did before 2018, but less students enrolling and parking than before the fires,” Heskel said.

Statewide, the median price appears to be in the $30-$40 range for parking permit fees at California Community Colleges.

San Diego Community College and Cerritos College charge $40 for parking, while American River College in Sacramento charges $41 for semester parking.

Many ECC students interviewed seemed to be content with the current parking prices at the college after the end of two years of free parking.

Some of them have friends and family attending universities where they are paying hundreds of dollars for parking permits.

El Camino College student Maggie Carrera, business administration major, works on her math homework in the Math Business Allied Health Building on April 10. "The parking permits at El Camino College are very reasonable," Carrera said. (Joseph Ramirez | The Union) — El Camino College student Maggie Carrera, business administration major, works on her math homework in the Math Business Allied Health Building on April 10. “The parking permits at El Camino College are very reasonable,” Carrera said. (Joseph Ramirez | The Union)

“The parking permits are very reasonable and I have a sister going to Cal State Long Beach paying $150 per term,” business administration major Maggie Carrera, who declined to give her age, said.

Felicidad Perez, 24, a radiology major and student worker, shared similar feelings.

“I am glad we have the cheapest prices for parking and the parking is abundant at El Camino,” Perez said.

Private universities including USC charge students $585 for semester parking and state universities, including California State University, Long Beach, are currently charging students $259 for spring semester 2025.

A parking ticket is left on a student's windshield on April 24, at El Camino College. Parking Lot J is not for students to park. Parking tickets can cost $40. (Joseph Ramirez | The Union) — A parking ticket is left on a student’s windshield on April 24, at El Camino College. Parking Lot J is not for students to park. Parking tickets can cost $40. (Joseph Ramirez | The Union)

ECC is studying other colleges who have transitioned to using virtual online parking.

Audusseau is working together with Vander Horck in communicating with the other colleges.

Long Beach City College is one of the colleges who have recently transitioned to this new process. They are in their second semester of using a digital parking permit.

“We first started talking to Cerritos College who started using online parking permits before we did, how it worked for them and now all our students are using it,” Lubert Iglesia, LBCC coordinator of Parking Services, said.

Iglesia said the way the process works is students verify that they are a student and then log in their license plate number to activate their semester parking permit.

Parking Services then scans the plate numbers of each car on their daily patrol to see if they bought a parking permit or not.

Currently, semester parking permits cost $30 at LBCC.

“Our college has a contract with the city of Long Beach for parking enforcement and we follow California Education Code 76360 for setting our parking prices,” Iglesia said.

Iglesia and David Jefferson, LBCC Director of Risk Management and Campus Safety, said 6,042 students purchased parking permits for spring semester 2025, amounting to $181,260 in estimated revenue.

As ECC launches into the future for its parking methods, students may have to pay more money in parking to fund it.

“All ideas are in discussion,” Audusseau said.