Most 17 and 18 year olds lack the skills and the time to feed themselves nutritious food on a daily basis. Yes, it’s cheaper to go to the supermarket and stock up on kale and black beans and buy a crock pot and throw in a healthy stew or ratatouille every morning before class. The number of college freshman who can do this (access to a supermarket and the desire to shlep the bags home, the time and the planning…) is a very tiny number.
Back when we were in college libraries closed at 11 pm and athletic facilities were only available to someone on a team or taking a PE class (non-athletes brought their own towels) and there was one phone on every hallway which we lined up to use on Sunday night to call home. And the food was relatively cheap (as a % of total costs of going away to college) and most of the time it was some sort of mystery meat served with something that used to be a vegetable before it sat in a steam tray. We had salad bar once a week- canned corn, iceberg lettuce, and a mass of jello with pineapple in it (is that a vegetable?)
This is not palatable to students these days. But if students demand more amenities- you can’t blame the colleges for trying to offer what their “market” is demanding.