Commuter Services

For your convenience, we provide commuter students with a lounge, lockers and access to parking; you may be required to obtain a permit for your vehicle. 

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students

Contact Information

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Commuter Lounge

Located on the second floor of the Student Center near the entrance to the footbridge, the commuter lounge is a great place to hang out and relax between classes, eat lunch, meet other commuter students and find out what’s happening around campus.

Commuter lounge amenities include:

  • Microwave
  • Sink and counter for food prep
  • Tables and chairs
  • Comfortable couches and chairs
  • Computer stations with internet access
  • TV
  • Informational bulletin board
  • Close proximity to vending machines
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Commuter student lounge

Commuter Lockers

You may reserve a locker via Engage Ashland for fall and spring semesters. However, you must remove your personal lock and items from the locker immediately after spring semester finals. Items you do not remove will be discarded.

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Commuter student lockers

Commuter Parking

If you attend classes before 5 p.m. on weekdays, you must secure a parking permit and register your vehicle with Safety Services to park on campus. If your classes do not begin before 5 p.m. on weekdays, you are not required to purchase a permit to park on campus, but you must adhere to the AU parking policies for students.

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Female student walking along Claremont Avenue

Who Qualifies as a Commuter?

All full-time students (registered for 12 or more hours per semester) are required to live in AU housing unless pressing reasons demand an exception to this policy.

Exceptions will be made for the following reasons.

  1. While in attendance at AU, the student is living in the permanent primary residence of his/her parents or guardian and that residence is within 35 driving miles of:
    1. AU’s main campus (401 College Avenue, Ashland, Ohio 44805). 
    2. The Dwight Schar College of Nursing and Health Sciences (1020 S. Trimble Road, Mansfield, Ohio 44906).
  2. The student is:
    1. Married, divorced or widowed.
    2. 22 years of age or older prior to Oct. 1 of that academic year.
    3. The parent or guardian of a dependent child.
    4. A new transfer student who has completed four semesters and earned a minimum of 45 credits from an accredited college/university.
  3. The student has:
    1. Served in the Armed Forces and received an honorable discharge.
    2. Lived in campus housing for the equivalent of 8 fall and spring semesters while enrolled in academic coursework each semester.
    3. Earned a bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college/university.
Approval Process for Living Off-Campus

Approval to live off campus may only be granted through the Office of Residence Life for up to one academic year. Once granted, permission to live off campus is only valid so long as the reason for the original approval still exists. Any change of status during the time period for which the student has been approved to live off campus may nullify the off-campus status, resulting in the student being invoiced for room and board and/or possibly incurring an action for misconduct.

If you have obtained off-campus status, to retain that status you must maintain a valid local address and phone number through the Office of Residence Life. If you fail to provide an accurate address and phone number to the Office of Residence Life by July 1 prior to the academic year, you will be charged for room and board.

If, as an off-campus resident, you disrupt the life/lives of those on campus (whether via noise, alcohol use or other means), the university may charge you with a conduct violation and/or rescind your commuter status.