GLASSBORO -- What do you get when you combine a lack of parking spaces and an unexpected influx in enrollment at Rowan University? Angry students who are late to class and are now being asked to sell back their parking passes.

The problem has also prompted the borough to take matters into their own hands and establish stricter parking restrictions on streets surrounding campus.

Classes started this week with enrollment at an all-time high of just under 17,000 students -- but that was 900 more than what the college expected when admissions were granted, according to university spokesman Joe Cardona.

"We always account for the students who change their minds and go elsewhere after accepting or decide to hold off an extra semester which allows us to accept more students than we have room for," said Cardona. "Fortunately, 900 more students than anticipated stuck with Rowan, so we're making adjustments (to the parking situation) to make it work."

Parking passes on campus range from $130 for commuters to $330 for Townhouse and Rowan Boulevard residents. While the college tries to tailor the number of parking passes given out to the the number of anticipated students, the jump in enrollment and the closure of a number of parking lots due to construction is causing problems, according to students.

Rowan University senior Kevin Lowe said he got to campus a half hour early this week, planning to wait until 8 a.m. classes let out to grab a spot.

"I drove around for a half hour between the B and O lots and couldn't find a spot and had to park on the street behind the Whitney Center making me 15 minutes late for my class that was in James Hall," Lowe said.

Ashley Weaver, a junior at Rowan, said commuter parking lots were completely full this week, and when she looked for parking elsewhere she was faced with a traffic jam of cars and bad visibility on the borough's side streets.

"An SUV was inches away from slamming into me because I had to inch into the street as there was no visibility whatsoever due to the cars that were illegally parked on the sides of the street," she said. "This is absolutely pathetic and unacceptable. It needs to be fixed."

New parking lots are expected to alleviate those problems when they open later this year, Cardona said. That includes a parking garage on Rowan Boulevard expected to open in January and a lot on Ellis Street that will offer a shuttle to the center of campus. Combined, they're expected to provide more than 600 additional parking spots for students.

Cardona said Rowan officers won't ticket heavily at the start of the year to give students a chance to become acquainted with the parking situation, "unless they're on grass or greens."

In the past three years, the university has issued anywhere from about 6,000 to 8,600 parking tickets per year. Those figures don't include tickets issued by the borough when students park illegally off campus.

"I do not understand why I should be fined for Rowan's lack of parking spaces," Christian Ehinger, a member of Rowan's Class of 2016 said in appeal against a parking ticket.

After residents complained about parking problems on borough streets near campus, the council passed a new ordinance requiring residents to display parking passes on their windows. Certain streets near Rowan's campus require the pass to be displayed 24 hours a day while other streets it's only required overnight.

According to Cardona, without those permits students risk being ticketed by Glassboro Police.

Until new lots are opened, the university is asking students -- especially those who live on or near campus -- to sell back their passes.

"If you live in Campus Crossings, you don't need to drive to campus. But students do," he added. "It's passes like that that we are trying to get returned."

Caitlyn Stulpin may be reached at cstulpin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitstulpin. Find NJ.com on Facebook.