Some college dining halls lack variety, serving iterations of the same meal every day. Others serve restaurant-quality food, with made-to-order omelet stations, global cuisine options and themed dinner events.
No matter the selection, the dining hall can be a place of community on campus. But it does come with a price tag.
The cost of a meal plan for an academic year usually ranges between $3,000 and $5,500, with the most expensive plans reaching upwards of $9,000, experts say.
What Is a Meal Plan in College?
College meal plans are pre-paid accounts that provide students with access to dining services on campus. Depending on the selected plan, students are given a set number of swipes per week to use at dining halls or other food vendors on or near campus.
Schools typically require residential students to purchase a meal plan, especially first-year students, as kitchen space is limited in dormitory common rooms.
“Residential housing, no matter the size, is not built to sustain students all doing things like washing plates (or cooking),” says John Root, director of auxiliary services at Texas State University. “And the rooms aren’t set up for that either.”
A meal plan offers a fast dining solution for students who want to avoid cooking or buying groceries.
“For the social aspect, the dining hall is a great place to meet, be with friends and share a meal together,” says Katie Burns, premier college admissions counselor at Ivywise, an educational consulting company. “It’s less time-consuming in terms of figuring out what you’re going to eat, but sometimes the variety is maybe not there.”
[Read: What to Know About Choosing Between Housing on or off Campus.]
Cost of Meal Plans
Costs vary based on the type of plan and location of the school.
For instance, at Texas State — which requires residential students to purchase an on-campus meal plan — prices for the 2021-2022 school year start at $1,355 and go up to $2,145 a semester, depending on the plan. The most expensive option includes unlimited meal swipes and $500 in dining dollars, which can be used for food options outside the dining halls.
At Syracuse University in New York, prices are almost twice as high, with unlimited meal plans ranging between $4,135 and $4,335 per semester, according to its website.
Meal plans, alongside tuition and housing, are considered part of the total cost of attendance at a university or college. These fees can be significantly reduced or covered under financial aid. To qualify, a student must first fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.
“By completing (the FAFSA) and having it sent to the student’s college, they will then be considered for all types of financial aid that are available that can be used towards that total cost of attendance budget,” says Jan Combs, senior manager of college finance at Bright Horizons College Coach, an education consulting company.
[Read: An Ultimate Guide to Understanding College Financial Aid.]
How to Choose a Meal Plan
Though a school might have specific requirements, choosing a meal plan is usually the responsibility of students and their families. But plans can be assigned if a student fails to pick one before the school’s deadline.
Meal plan selections are not permanent. Students can often downgrade or upgrade their plans up until a certain date each semester.
Before selecting a meal plan, students should consider factors such as the school’s rollover policies and their own dietary restrictions and sleep habits.
Rollover policies.
Higher meal plans come with perks such as unlimited access to dining halls, extra guest passes and additional swipes to other food vendors on campus. But if not budgeted correctly, there’s also a risk of being left with extra meals or dollars at the end of the semester or year.
Some meal plans roll over from the fall to spring semester but not to another academic year. Others don’t roll over at all and are nonrefundable except under certain circumstances such as a leave of absence or withdrawal from the university.
To avoid being left with unused meals, some students stock up on nonperishable foods at the end of the semester. Another option is to donate meal swipes.
The Swipe Out Hunger program, for instance, partners with hundreds of colleges and universities to donate unused meal swipes to students experiencing food insecurity. Thirty-nine percent of community college students and 29% of students at four-year institutions reported facing food insecurity, according to the Hope Center’s #RealCollege 2021 survey.
“Food insecurity impacts student success in the classroom or at work, every aspect of one’s life,” says Sarah Griesse, dean of students at Augsburg University in Minnesota.
Sleep habits and class schedules.
A student should refer to their own sleep habits and class schedule to determine how many meals a week they need.
Students who wake up early or spend the majority of the day on campus could require more meals than those who sleep in late, for example.
Dietary restrictions and allergies.
At many dining halls food is served in a buffet, where cross-contamination is possible. This can make it difficult for students with dietary restrictions or severe allergies.
Before selecting a meal plan or eating at a dining hall for the first time, experts suggest reaching out to the dining hall staff or school nutritionist to find safe food options. A meal plan at Emory University in Georgia, for instance, offers kosher lunches and dinners.
“Colleges have put a lot of investment into creating a lot of flexibility in the meal plans and being able to support students with such a huge range of dietary restrictions, allergies or health conditions,” Burns says. “There’s always a lot of nutritionists or registered dietitians who are part of the dining staff at any college to help students make those choices.”
[READ: These Colleges Are Giving Tuition Discounts.]
COVID-19’s Impact on Meal Plans
As campuses nationwide shut down in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, students called for tuition, meal plan and housing refunds. Some schools provided rebates for those lost fees.
At Texas State, for example, remaining meal plan balances rolled over into the next academic year. Refunds were issued for non-returning students.
COVID-19 also changed the formatting of many dining halls. Rather than encourage students to eat together, more carryout options were implemented.
Some schools managed to still maintain a sense of community, even during a time of social distancing.
Augsburg University created the Community Meals program in fall 2020, in which student organizations, teammates, a class or a group of friends could reserve a place in the dining hall to eat together. Students had the option to meet with the dining hall chefs ahead of time to plan the menu, such as a wing or taco bar. The meal was served with china plates, real utensils and glassware.
“We saw the dramatic impact that COVID was having on mental health,” Griesse says. “Students feeling isolated and not finding places to see and connect with others. … (Community Meals) made a difference in how people felt. The experience felt familiar, welcoming and engaging.”
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