In an effort to ease Penn State's crammed and overflowing student parking lots, University officials have proposed creating a new and more expensive parking sticker.

Off-campus students who store their cars in University lots may have to compete for a limited number of purple stickers to adorn their automobile next semester.

Currently, off-campus students and faculty who commute to the University have red stickers that cost $35 for two semesters. The purple ones, which would be issued only to non-commuting off-campus students, could cost up to $30 for a semester or $55 for two semesters, said University Parking Manager Allan Derzak.

The higher cost of the permits would enable officials to offset the cost of expanding Lot 44 near Beaver stadium last semester, Derzak said.

The University's parking office issues about twice as many red parking permits as it has spaces, said Assistant Parking Manager Doug Holmes. Because most spaces are held by commuting students who park at different times of the day, the lot is not overcrowded, Derzak said.

"We have never put a cap on the permits but this year we will have to limit the number of parking permits given out," he said. "We got caught."

Derzak and Holmes blamed the parking overflow in the past two semesters on the recent development of large scale apartment projects downtown. Additional buildings slated for construction next year could cause a greater parking shortage next year, Derzak said.

"The problem we're encountering is new apartment complexes coming on line that are apparently not providing enough parking for their tenants," Holmes said.

Originally, Lot 44 held about 750 cars and was intended only for red-stickered cars last semester, Derzak said. But Lot 44 overflowed unexpectedly by about 450 cars, forcing the University to lay down an additional 220 gravel spaces.

About 1,850 green stickers were sold to students -- 200 spaces over the capacity of green lots -- which in part caused the Lot 44 overflow , he said.

Within the next two weeks, a part of Lot 80 comprising about 400 parking spaces will be dug up temporarily to lay pipelines and electrical equipment for the construction of the new Agricultural Science Building, Derzak said.

While most of the construction should be done over spring break, some commuting students displaced by the missing spaces could be forced to park in Lot 44 until work is completed, he said.