can a freshman have a car on campus and with so how does that work? If not is there a way to keep it off campus yet near by? And how much does it cost?
Parking is limited and based on lottery.
http://www.housing.umich.edu/undergrad/parking
There is limited space for parking. You can park on city streets but most of the residential areas near central campus require a resident permit.
http://www.a2gov.org/services/pages/parking.aspx
Alternately there are city owned parking structures and you can get a monthly permit at one of them.
http://rpsa2.com/Home/RequestAMonthlyPass
There are numerous private spots as well. Sometimes people park at a friends apartment or house.
There are zipcars available to rent on campus too.
It is hard to get yellow parking and it is pretty far away. The only exception is if you live in Family Housing, then you can get a parking permit there. It is about the same distance from center of the campus as the yellow lot, but it will be right by your apartment building. Zip Car is the way to go as you don’t need a car on campus most of the time.
Thank you for all of your responses they are very helpful. I am going to read up on the zip cars you are talking about.