Moving Toward Obtaining a Parking Permit
If you are a student looking to park a car on campus, the first step you need to take is to fill out the online application. It is important to realize that students are not entitled to a parking permit and that parking permits for undergraduate students are often distributed by lottery. First-year undergraduate students are not permitted to bring cars to campus, and upperclass members are advised not to. For information on alternatives to having a car at MIT, please see the Commuting Alternatives section of this site.
To obtain a student permit, you must do the following in order to obtain a space:
1. Register your car
2. Apply for a parking sticker
3. Pay the fee
4. Place the sticker on your car
1. Register Your Car
In order to be eligible to park on MIT property, all students must have their car registered in two places:
- The MIT Parking and Transportation Office
- The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Massachusetts law requires students to register with the Commonwealth all out-of-state motor vehicles. The registration must be accomplished within 30 days of the time the motor vehicle is brought into Massachusetts. This registration expires at the end of each academic year, so vehicles must be reregistered each September. Massachusetts levies a $50.00 fine against non-registered, out-of-state student motor vehicles.
Information about non-resident status is available from the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles or at the Parking and Transportation Office in Building W20-022.
2. Apply for a Parking Sticker
New Sticker
If you are an undergraduate student, graduate student, graduate resident tutor or a graduate resident coordinator, you will be notified by the Student Parking Coordinators that the parking season has begun.
Here is how to obtain a parking permit:
- Go online to https://commuting.mit.edu (certificates required) and enter the system via Student Parking.
- Fill out a new application. Include your residence, vehicle information and choice of payment method.
- Submit the application. If you have any existing parking violations, they will show up here. While you have open violations, you can be approved for, but not receive, your parking permit until you pay for the violations.
- Based on your residence, the application is sent to the appropriate Student Parking Coordinator.
Replacement Stickers for a New Vehicle
Bring the previous sticker or its pieces to the Parking and Transportation Office, along with the registration for the new vehicle. Once there, you will fill out a new application.
3. Pay the Parking Fee
Cost
- New sticker
- Replacement sticker
- $10.00 when accompanied with the old sticker
- $30.00 when not accompanied with the old sticker
- No charge if accompanied with a stolen vehicle report that was filed with a police department
Payment Methods
Permanent sticker
- Non-tinted windows
- Upper back corner of the driver’s side window
- Upper front corner of the driver’s side passenger window
- Tinted windows
- Lower windshield on the driver’s side
Temporary Parking Permit
Place them on the driver's
side window, either on the inside front or the inside rear window.
Voided stickers
Remove them on the expiration date, or when a car is sold
or otherwise disposed of.
Note: any sticker not properly displayed will be considered invalid.
Cancellation Policy
You have the right to cancel your parking permit at any time and for any reason. Once you decide to cancel, you must bring your parking sticker to the Parking and Transportation Office to stop payments. When your sticker is received, automatic parking payments, such as those through your bursar account, will cease. In addition, any prepaid money, such as through a check, will be refunded.
Note: parking fees are prorated on a calendar month basis only. So if you cancel your parking on April 3rd, you will be charged for the entire month of April.
