We encourage out of state students to review local traffic and parking laws, which may differ from those at your home. A concise summary is available on the City of St. Paul's website.

Theft is by far the most frequent crime in our area - the presence of many large, uncontrolled parking areas at local businesses are a frequent target. While we do patrol and monitor campus as a prevention measure, we strongly discourage leaving anything valuable inside your vehicle for any length of time. For more on crime trends across Ramsey County, see a graphical representation of local incidents on communitycrimemap.com.

We require all vehicles to have a permit displayed to park on campus overnight (between 12am-5am). Four types of parking permits are available based on your role: 

1. Resident permits

2. Commuter/employee permits

3. Temporary permits

4. Overnight permits

Submit a request at https://www.bethel.edu/safety-security/parking/permit-request-appeal. The form will walk you through the process based on your role.

• Residents and Off-Campus CAS Students: Unless requested during the summer, Resident permits must be picked up from the Safety and Security office in HC103. Permits requested before welcome week will be delivered to your campus PO box. Please remember that resident permits are not valid until they are affixed to your vehicle.

• CAPS/GS/SEM Students: Permits will be mailed to the address on record.

• Employees: Permits will be sent via intercampus mail to a personal or departmental PO box.

To arrange for a pickup or delivery method other than the default for your role, please contact us.

For a permanent change to your permitted vehicle’s information, or to switch your permit to another vehicle:

• Residents must turn in the permit from their existing vehicle on record. Bring this and the new vehicle’s information to our office, and we’ll issue a permit for the new vehicle.

• Off-Campus students and employees may transfer a hangtag permit to the new vehicle, but should contact our office with the information for the new vehicle (email updated info to safety-security@bethel.edu).

Commuters and employees are permitted to transfer their hangtag permit between vehicles. Transfer of a resident sticker permit is prohibited. If you are a resident who will have multiple vehicles on campus, please contact us for more information.

Stop by our office with the substitute’s information (make, model, license plate, etc) for a temporary permit. If you can’t make it during business hours, call for an overnight permit.

Overnight parking at Anderson is not prohibited. However, there is a higher risk of theft or damage to vehicles due to the environment. We recommend against long-term parking.

Employees may request up to two permits (for two vehicles) – if you have more than two vehicles, the hang tags may be moved between vehicles on a temporary basis. Please contact our office for a permanent change, so we can maintain our records.

• Employees will find the “Commuter Lots” (West, West Extension, SRC, Heritage, East, Upper East, and North Commuter) to be most convenient during business hours, but are authorized to use other parking lots if these are full. 

• Commuter Lots are closed overnight. Only Upper East South remains available between 12am-5am.

Absolutely. Permits are required for parking on campus overnight, so make sure yours is displayed. However, the Commuter Lots where you may normally park are closed overnight (midnight-5am). During this time, employee permits are only authorized for the Upper East South lots. Vehicles in closed lots which impact snow removal operations will be towed at the owner’s expense.

For trips shorter than 7 days, normal overnight parking rules apply. For longer periods, please contact our office.

If students live on campus, no. Employee permits may be transferred between vehicles on temporary bases, but not between persons. Campus residents are issued permits based on their residence, and we need these numbers to be accurate for administration of the system as a whole.

All community members should start at the same place. Submit the “Request a Parking Permit” form. The link will sort based on your account details, and give you the appropriate form for your role:

• Submit a Parking Appeal - Freshman and Sophomore students are generally not authorized to have vehicles on campus. Students with specific needs may appeal to receive a permit. The number and types of appeals we are able to support are subject to the number of off-campus students and number of appeals we receive for specific housing areas in a given year. Review the process here.

• Request a Parking Permit - Juniors and Seniors standing, CAPS/Sem/GS students, and employees will be asked for their vehicle information. Once we receive this, permits will be available for pickup in the Safety and Security office unless requested over the summer/before welcome week, when they’ll be forwarded to your campus PO box for pickup.

See Permit and Citation Fees for details.

Generally we have ~50% of the parking spaces required to offer parking to all residents, however this is not geographically uniform across campus. Commuting students and employees are required to park on campus for continuing operations of the University, so residents of areas with parking deficits are those most restricted.

At this point we have developed the extent of both paved and permeable parking surfaces allowable by the City or Arden Hills and the Rice Creek Watershed District.

• Temporary Permits are available to all students for up to 30 days for the academic year at a rate of $4 per night. These may be used in any denomination up to the 30 day limit. Visit the Safety and Security office with your vehicle’s information (make, model, license plate, etc) to obtain a temporary permit.

• Overnight Permits are available for a single night, at a rate of $4/permit. To obtain an overnight permit, call us (24/7) once you’re parked for the night. An officer will meet you at your vehicle to write the permit. Alternatively, ask for a permit at the West Gate if you arrive after 8pm. Overnight permits expire at 10am the following morning.

Campus Residents are assigned to parking areas by housing:

• Heritage (Brown) - West Lot red rows and Heritage Lot

• Edgren, Bodien, and Getsch (Orange) - Soho Lot

• Nelson and Arden Village (Silver) - Upper East North and Townhouse Lots

• Lissner and North Village (Red) - Lissner, Scandia, and North Waters/Woods lots.

Resident permits are authorized for only one area on campus, designated by its color. Parking in that area overnight and moving to another during the day is a functional utilization of two spaces, rather than the one we are accounting for with your permit. This drastically reduces the number of spaces available for off campus students and employees, particularly during business hours or events.

If you have a permit and park in the area authorized for that permit overnight, short term parking (for a period less than 7 days) is authorized. Long term parking (periods exceeding 7 days) is generally prohibited. Please reach out to our office with specific questions about parking over breaks or academic trips that would fall in the long-term category.

In either case, we recommend leaving your car keys with a trusted individual who can move your vehicle in the event of a snow emergency.

Off-Campus CAS students are charged the $175 “Commuter Fee” each semester, regardless of whether they request a permit. Students with situations not requiring them to bring a vehicle to campus should appeal the fee. Appeals must be received within 30 days of the charge in order to be considered.

To appeal the fee, please email: parking-appeals@bethel.edu.

Commuters will find the “Commuter Lots” (West, West Extension, SRC, Heritage, East, Upper East, and North Commuter) to be most available during business hours, but are authorized to use other parking lots if these are full. The Commuter Lots are closed nightly, so make sure you’re in Upper East South if parking between 12am-5am.

Due to the manner in which commuters are charged, commuter permits do not expire.

Unless you need a replacement permit, email our office with updated vehicle information at safety-security@bethel.edu.

No, parking lots are open during the day. A permit is only required overnight, between 12am-5am, and some lots are also closed at this time. If you’ll be staying overnight, your campus host should contact us for an overnight permit.

Visiting a student’s residence? Park in the adjacent area. 

Visiting our academic or common spaces? Park in one of the adjacent Commuter Lots. 

Our campus can be confusing! Check out maps.bethel.edu for navigational assistance.

• Main Building areas:

  • West Lot

  • RC Loading Dock (near East Lot and 3-way intersection)

  • Townhouse Lot (near Brushaber Commons Loading Dock)

• Lakeside Center

  • North Commuter Lot (Near lakeside)

• Anderson Center

  • Front circle drive

• Residence Areas:

  • Heritage (red rows)

  • Heritage Lot (Freshman Hill, Football Field)

  • Freshman Hill Circle

  • Lissner (near front entry)

  • North Village (building-adjacent parking)

This is generally not a situation we observe. Please contact our office at 651.638.6000 for help finding a parking space.