If LSU decided that freshmen could not bring their vehicles on campus, the university would be required to upgrade existing transportation options and add new ones to ensure that students can get to, from and across campus, to airports in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and to other destinations. Learning that a university will not allow you to bring your vehicle to campus as a freshman might lead an undecided freshman to choose a comparable school that does not have that restriction. In terms of student recruitment, LSU did not want to add any restrictions that might cause prospective students to choose another university to attend. The university is in a very vehicle centric area of the city where having a vehicle is seen as almost as important as having a cell phone. Requiring freshman to live on campus, but not allowing them to have their cars, creates a strain on existing campus transportation options and limits the students’ ability to work and shop off campus and travel home. We quickly realized that constructing new parking garages is cost prohibitive. We received many suggestions, ranging from construction of new parking garages to prohibiting freshmen from bringing their vehicles to campus. In facing this situation, we had to evaluate and develop a solution to accommodate these new parkers.
These new residential life facilities will increase the number of beds by 900 at a time when we are already to identify an adequate amount of residential parking in close proximity to the buildings. The university has undertaken several new construction projects over the past few years, with two new residential halls scheduled to open in Fall 2021. The university now requires freshman to live on campus, as studies show this leads to improved academic performance. This year’s 6,690 freshmen enrolled surpasses last year’s record of 6,126 freshmen, and despite the COVID-19 pandemic, overall enrollment at LSU is at an all-time high of 34,290. For the third-straight year, LSU has broken the record for the largest and most diverse freshman class in university history. LSU is very fortunate to continue to experience enrollment growth on its campus during these unprecedented times. By Mike Harris, MBA, CAPP, CPP, Director of Parking and Transportation Services at Louisiana State University
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