Students may purchase parking permits on a semester basis.

• Fall/Spring: $506 per semester via student accounts or through the Office of Parking and Commuter Services.
• Summer Rates: $221 for full summer, $112 for seven (7) weeks, $60 for three (3) weeks. Summer permits are unable to be billed to student accounts.

The permit allows eligible students to park at all times during the week in any general parking space. Students may have only one vehicle on campus and shall only be issued one parking permit. If a student replaces their vehicle with another during the academic year or summer session, the student must contact the Office of Parking and Commuter Services to transfer the original permit to the new vehicle.

Permits are available to students with the following conditions and restrictions:

• First-year resident students and Washington Semester students are not permitted to have cars on university property or in the neighborhood surrounding any University property. Beginning in the Fall 2026 semester, the car prohibition is extended to second-year resident students. Students with extenuating circumstances requiring use of their personal vehicle in lieu of other transportation options may seek exceptions to this policy in writing from the Office of the Dean of Students.
• Commuter student permits are available for the duration of the academic year only. Commuter students taking classes during the summer semester must purchase a summer semester parking permit, available at the posted summer parking rate.

Full-time faculty and staff may pay for their parking permit via payroll deductions ($126/month) or up-front in the Office of Parking and Commuter Services. All payroll deductions for parking are pre-tax. A full-time faculty or staff member is under no obligation to purchase a full year of parking. Part-time faculty and staff are not eligible for payroll deductions.

• Enrollment in payroll deductions for parking on or before the fifteenth (15^th) of the month will result in being charged the full monthly rate. Enrollment on or after the sixteenth (16^th) of the month will result in a charge of half of the monthly rate.
• Payroll deductions cannot be canceled through the Parking Portal. Faculty and staff members must contact the parking office by close of business on or before the fifteenth (15^th) of the month to avoid being charged for the full month. To avoid being charged for the following month, deductions must be canceled through the parking office by close of business on or before the final business day of the month.

Adjunct faculty and University chaplains are eligible to receive a complimentary parking permit valid in all general parking areas. Verification of an applicant’s adjunct status is required prior to permit issuance. Adjunct permits are issued by academic semester. Adjuncts are considered part-time. If an Adjunct professor is also either a full-time staff or full-time student, that adjunct must purchase the appropriate full-time permit. Adjunct faculty must contact the Office of Parking and Commuter Services to receive these complimentary permits, which cannot be obtained through the AU Parking Portal.

Pay-As-You-Go parking is available in hourly or daily increments ($2/hour, or $16/day) using the pay stations in the elevator lobbies of Katzen Arts Center, East Campus Surface Lot, the Spring Valley Building, Washington College of Law, and the School of International Service.

AU community members with active myAU Portal login credentials are eligible to sign up for a discounted location code through the Parking Portal to be utilized with the PayByPhone parking application (available in the Apple and Google Play app stores) or by dialing 1-888-450-7275 (for non-smart phone users), to take advantage of a discounted hourly rate to park in general parking areas on campus. Users must follow the standard vehicle registration procedures and select the PayByPhone “Virtual Self-Park Code” before proceeding to checkout. There will be no additional cost to obtain the discount code. This code allows verified users to pay $0.75/hour or $6.75/day (plus fees). 

A partial-week, daily option is available to university faculty, staff, and students through T2 Tempo. Similar to the “Virtual Self-Park Code,” this option will be available to AU community members with active myAU Portal login credentials unless specified for athletics or other special events. The rate is $6.75/day (plus fees). 

The university and Office of Parking & Commuter Services may further modify hourly/daily/discount parking options as needed.

Complimentary parking permits can be requested from the Office of Parking and Commuter Services by University departments for distribution to department guests. For the purposes of this policy, a department guest is an individual whose participation with - and subsequent parking at - AU is specifically requested by a department for the purposes of contributing to the academic and/or institutional mission of the department without compensation.

• Requests must be submitted in writing via email to parking@american.edu with a minimum of 48 hours’ notice.
• Once a request has been processed, the requestor will be notified via email. Requestors may contact the Office of Parking and Commuter Services by phone to check on the status of a request or provide additional clarification or information.
• Department guest permits may be issued electronically or from the Office of Parking and Commuter as an approved PDF document.
  • These permits are valid only in the areas specified on the permit.
  • To be valid, these permits must have the current date/date of use clearly printed.
  • To be valid, these permits require an Office of Parking and Commuter Services approval or security punch.
  • Only the Office of Parking and Commuter Services can issue a Guest Permit.

Contracted Service Providers (CSPs) may include, but not be limited to, athletic officials, contracted media, non-staff coaches, and health center physicians. CSPs, or their sponsoring department, are required to purchase a parking permit unless they are in a clearly labeled vehicle. Permits are sold to the particular department which hires such auxiliary staff members at the appropriate parking permit rate. If the CSP is parking on a regular basis throughout the month, the department must purchase a parking permit at the appropriate faculty/staff rate. CSPs and vendors may purchase permits in bulk and distribute them to their employees, or individual employees of these companies may purchase their permits directly from the Office of Parking and Commuter Services in any monthly increments. Advance and bulk purchases must be made through GL account transfers or invoice/check purchases. Individuals may purchase permits using personal check, money order, cashier’s check, Visa, Master Card, or Discover/NOVUS.

ADA parking permits, either state-issued or AU-issued, are required at all times to park in all AU ADA spaces. ADA permits may be issued by American University’s Parking and Commuter Services upon approval by Employee Relations or the Academic Support and Access Center (ASAC), provided the individual has proper documentation. For faculty and staff, these letters must be directed towards Employee Relations. For students, these letters must be directed to ASAC. Employee Relations or ASAC will determine what parking accommodations are to be made and communicate these accommodations to the Office of Parking and Commuter Services.

Temporary ADA parking permits may be requested by anyone requiring a temporary ADA permit. Individuals can be issued an AU ADA permit, or any other permit which meets their medical/physical needs, for up to three days at the prevailing daily rate or in addition to a valid AU permit. After three days, medical documentation from the requestor’s medical provider must be provided to Employee Relations or Student Support Services, as appropriate, to receive any additional amount of time for ADA parking.

Athletics and Special Event Parking

A $10 event rate will be charged for parking during select on-campus athletics and special events. Paying this rate allows game day or event visitors to park in campus garages/lots (including Bender Arena Sports Center Garage on a first-come, first-served basis) until the end of the event day. Event rate parking passes can be purchased through the PayByPhone mobile app using a dedicated event rate code (no prior registration required). Event codes are active on weekdays after 5 p.m. and all day on weekends.

AU community members who already hold a monthly or daily permit covering the date of the event will not need to purchase additional event parking.

For additional information on specific athletics or special events, please visit the Department of Athletics website or contact the event organizing department. 

Emeritus Faculty Permits

Emeriti faculty are eligible for an emeritus parking permit free of charge. Verification of an applicant’s emeritus status is required prior to permit issuance. Emeritus permits have no expiration date but will be subject to periodic permit changes. Emeriti faculty must contact the Office of Parking and Commuter Services to receive these complimentary permits, which cannot be obtained through the AU Parking Portal.

Loading Permits

Loading permits can be requested from the Office of Parking and Commuter Services. The standard loading permit is valid for one day only and restricted to 20 minutes of loading time. Loading permits are not required during designated move-in and move-out periods. Loading permits may be requested for university employees by the employee’s supervisor. These permits may be issued for up to one calendar year or three academic semesters. Supervisor approval is required before any replacement loading permits may be issued; an expired loading permit does not constitute an authorized request for a new loading permit. Clearly labeled vendor vehicles such as UPS, W.B. Mason, FedEx, Coca-Cola, Chartwells, or Aramark trucks are not required to display a loading permit in the course of their work on campus. Vendors must be in compliance with parking regulations and safety standards at all times or may be subject to citation.

Service parking permits are required to park in university designated service vehicle spaces. Designated AU service vehicles do not require a permit to park in AU designated service vehicle spaces. Clearly labeled vendor’s and contractor’s vehicles also do not require a permit to park in service vehicle spaces or loading areas.

Carpool Parking Permits

Virtual carpool permits are available for interested community members. The university partners who participate in Commuter Connections can receive carpool matching, guaranteed ride home, and other carpool services. To qualify for the permit, members must demonstrate they have driven or participated in a carpool at least three times a week with at least two other community members. Qualifying individuals must provide the Office of Parking and Commuter Services with proper documentation and have a registered vehicle with the Parking Portal. A registered carpool is eligible to split the cost of a monthly permit with other registered participants. While registration for a carpool permit is not available through the Parking Portal, participants may contact the Office of Parking and Commuter Services for further details.

A carpool permit may only be used for one vehicle at any given time. If a carpool member drives to campus separately, using a vehicle other than the vehicle they have registered for the carpool permit, the individual must park and pay using available Pay-As-You-Go options. To cancel or make any adjustments to a carpool permit, the individual must notify the Office of Parking and Commuter Services. If the carpool dissolves, individuals will be eligible to purchase a Faculty or Staff permit. The Parking office may issue van pool permits for authorized participants.

Special Status Parking Permits

Special status parking permits are available for all individuals who are not specifically mentioned in the preceding policy. These permits are available according to the following categories and conditions. Additionally, departments may choose to issue guest permits to the following categories (see University Guest Parking section for further information). Payment may be submitted by individuals at Office of Parking and Commuter Services or Pay-As-You-Go machines, or by GL account transfer made by the sponsoring department. Parking permits for special status individuals are sold at the prevailing parking permit rate. This applies to the following:

• Volunteers, interns, and externs;
• University Conference and Guest Services attendees;
• Institute and program participants;
• AU Community Members, including but not limited to, Jacobs Fitness Center members who are not otherwise affiliated with AU and special program participants such as National Capital swimmers, may purchase parking permits for the Sports Center Garage.