Securing the parking space at the East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania may have just become pricey.

The University plans to implement a $55-per-semester or $110-per-year fee on all students who wish to park on campus. Parking previously had been free.

The new parking fee structure was announced Tuesday without mentioning the date of implementation.

A cheaper, $45-per-semester pass is available, but limits where students can park. Commuters who purchase the $45 pass would be limited to parking at the Marguerite Street and Mary Street lots or in the parking lot of the university's Innovation Centre off Route 447, about two miles from campus.

The university runs shuttle transportation between the parking lot and campus.

Students who live on campus and purchase the $45 pass would be limited to parking only in the Gwendolyn Street, Mary Street or Innovation Centre lots.

Special parking passes for University Ridge students are available for $90-per-year or $45-per-semester and would allow them to park in the Gwendolyn Street, Innovation Center or University Ridge parking lots, reports Pocono Record.

"All parking lots and sections of parking lots are designated for specific permits. You must park in a lot that is designated for the type of permit you are issued," said a statement on the university website.

According to the university's five-year budget projection plan, published this spring, ESU needs to implement a fee to pay for a parking deck.

Last month, university officials announced plans to build a second level to the parking lot behind Dansbury Commons. The structure would not be as big as a full garage, but it would allow for an additional 200 parking spaces, officials said.

Kenn Marshall, spokesman for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, which oversees East Stroudsburg University and the state's 13 other universities; said many of the schools charge students parking fees.

Whether to charge is up to the university and would need to be approved by the university's Council of Trustees.

"In the case of parking fees, many times it's to cover the cost of constructing, maintaining and operating parking lots and parking decks," Marshall said.