It is back to classes for K-State students, and with the beckoning of another semester at hand, there are the ever-looming expenses that come with starting a new semester. Books, tuition, school supplies and an object essential for many students: the parking permit.

Students who live off campus, in the residence halls and in Jardine Apartment Complex are all required to have some kind of parking permit. These permits allow students to park on the few designated lots around the campus, but parking does not come cheap.

There are three different parking permits that are used for K-State: an off-campus permit for students who do not live in residence halls and are only permitted to park in O lots, a permit for Jardine that allows students to park in the Jardine parking lots or J lots, and residence hall permits that allow students to park in lots of their residence halls or R lots only.

But the permit prices are not cheap, as Darwin Abbott, director of parking services said.

"They are all the same price," Abbott said. "The price for a parking permit is $80 for fall semester then $90 for spring because they are pro-rated. If you know you are going to be here you can buy a permit for the entire year, which is $150."

There is another option for parking that students can use with or without a parking permit, which is the new parking garage located in front of the K-State Student Union off of Anderson Ave.

Gary Leitnaker, assistant vice president for the Division of Human Resources, says the garage has just recently been completely opened.

"The rest of the garage has opened up," Leitnaker said. "The bridge is open now. One of the elevators is working."

Leitnaker said he expected to see the second elevator open on Tuesday.

The completed garage will be open for the rest of the semester. However, what will the garage cost to park in — with or without a parking permit? Abbott said the system costs about the same if one has a permit, but with a little extra money.

"You buy a Radio Frequency Identification Device, or a RFID," Leitnaker said. "If you buy one of those for $10, you can go into the garage from 8 a.m. — 5 p.m. if you are an off campus student or live in Jardine. Resident hall students can use the garage at 7 a.m. and on the weekends, but the RFIDs last for several years. It just depends on the battery life."

Abbott also said students without a parking permit will have to pay $1.50 per hour in order to park in the garage, which can be paid by cash, debit or credit card.

So what do students think? Is the parking permit a convenience worth paying for, or is the money just a waste? Luc Heimbach, sophomore in biology, finds the permit to be more of a money hole rather than a convenience.

"I live in the residence hall, and so I have a residence hall parking permit," Heimbach said. "Really I just see it as another way for the dorms to get more money out of you, but because I live here I have it. I can use it to drive to campus but I'm only ten minutes away."