Why do colleges have meal plans?

Parents Forum
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<p>The current meal plan at my school just consists of dinner, which we get half off a la carte food items if we’re on the plan, and only certain dorms are required to be on meal plans. But this is changing to a normal, all you can eat meal plan, which is turning out to be extremely expensive compared to before.</p>

<p>I know most other schools have meal plans, so I was just curious - what’s the rationale behind meal plans? I cooked for myself in high school and plan on cooking for myself once I graduate, what’s so different about college. And this really makes me angry - I almost want to ask the dean who’s in charge of this if he has his own dining plan.</p>

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<p>Most schools have meal plans because MOST schools do not have adequate cooking and food storage facilities for all students in the dorms where the students live. Simply put…my son’s floor had over 100 students on it. They had a common microwave…one…and they were not allowed to have any kind of cooking appliance in their rooms. How would they have cooked? Never mind where? </p>

<p>Now…both of my kids schools have variations of the “meal plan” which involved the use of points. DS’s school had a choice of points used for ala carte purchases, or use of a number of points for a “meal” choice. The student chose. So…if my son was planning to eat a lot at a meal, he chose the meal choice. If he was only having a bagel, he chose the points option and paid only for the bagel.</p>

<p>DD’s school was totally on the points system. Each food item bought was paid for by the item. No “meals”. </p>

<p>Both bought a certain number of points per term.</p>

<p>Oh…I should add…while both became a bit bored with the choices after a while, they also agreed they were mighty good. Their dining halls were more like food courts…a pizza station, a pasta station, an omelette station, a meat station, a salad bar, a dessert bar, a mexican station…you get the picture. Quite a variety.</p>

<p>The other thing MY kids liked about the dining hall…the didn’t have to shop, prepare the food, and CLEAN up the mess afterward. There were some advantages to that. Their dining halls were open very long hours as well.</p>

<p>If you’re really angry about this…live OFF campus if you are permitted to do so. Most campuses do NOT require meal plans for students who are NOT living in the dorms.</p>

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<p>Cooking in college is time consuming and dangerous. Many students of a college age don’t know how to cook for themselves in a way that adequately meets nutritional needs, and don’t want to take the time away from studying to cook proper meals. I saw this when I was studying abroad in the UK, where students do cook for themselves in their dorms, and I knew a student who consisted solely off of microwaveable bacon, white bread, and a UK specialty called “Brown Sauce”. </p>

<p>Also, cooking usually involves heating things, and most universities do not want to take on the risk of students setting fire to something while they’re cooking, or leaving a burner on, or leaving an oven turned on, or any of the numerous things that can happen when you have lots of inexperienced people cooking for themselves. Again, when I was studying abroad in the UK, a Singaporean exchange student turned the entire kitchen in her student flat (the one right next door to mine) into a charred, completely burnt out shell because of an accidental grease fire that she didn’t know how to extinguish (though we were provided with lots of fire extinguishing items including extinguishers, smothering cloths, etc). The entire dormitory had to be evacuated for hours while firefighters contained the blaze, and the entire kitchen had to be re-built from scratch. </p>

<p>Also, there’s the risks of infections and illnesses that come with mold and bacteria from improperly cleaned dishes and cutting boards. </p>

<p>As a college graduate, or as a college student living off-campus or in an on-campus apartment, you face these same challenges: keeping a hygenic kitchen, feeding yourself properly, avoiding kitchen accidents. But one person or one person plus a roommate can manage that much better than a large group of people living in a dorm, even if they are divided say six or seven people per kitchen. </p>

<p>Also, it’s just a lot cheaper for colleges to put in one large kitchen in a dining hall than put in multiple kitchens in each dorm that would need replacing/updating/repairing regularly. And most dorms don’t have the wiring (gas, plumbing, electric) to support that kind of thing.</p>

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<p>So parents can feel superior about their cooking skills?
To give the kids something to complain about?
As part of a vast conspiracy to make the next generation even more obese?
Or just because they think it might be more convenient for most students.</p>

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<p>Colleges don’t have the meal plans, residence halls/dorms do. Dorm rooms are not homes or apartments- they lack the food storage and preparation facilities- aka kitchen/pantries of home. Students need to have nutritious breakfast lunch and supper available. Perhaps your school’s residence halls are requiring more because they are not getting enough food service business with the current system to pay the fixed costs of their food service buildings. Regardless of how many meals are served there are fixed costs- buildings, salaries et al.</p>

<p>I could rave about the UW-Madison way of doing things but that is useless to you. The cost of living is part of the deal in attending any college. Many different ways of doing things, with pros and cons.</p>

<p>I’m sure you don’t realize the total costs in time and money when you cooked at home- most borne by your parents, not you. I’m sure you did not do the grocery shopping, never had to buy the cooking, serving, storage, dishes, silverware and other nonfood items needed in a kitchen, the cleaning supplies, mops, brooms… much less the appliances used from microwave oven to stove, refrigerator, dishwasher… Nor did you have to pay for the utilities such as heat, gas, water, hot water, electricity, sewer… You also did not do the cleanup and maintenance of the kitchen, either. It’s one thing to put your dirty dishes in the dishwasher, or even wash and put them away and quite another to thoroughly clean counters, floors and appliance interiors (ovens, refrigerator and cupboard interiors for example). Oh- and did you buy the table and chairs you used? Or pay for the electricity for the lights? Or the heat/air conditioning? Take out the trash/recycling? Pay the mortgage/taxes?</p>

<p>Oh- plus you are expected to spend your time not only going to classes, but to study. It is no wonder mothers who try to also attend college, even part time, have trouble managing it all. I know we do a lot for our apartment based college son- just furnishing him with the basics took a lot of time as well as money for the mother who knew what was needed and where to get things. The tradeoff for him is standing in lines at the cafeteria or doing a bit of the shopping and cooking, only the tip of the iceberg. He is appreciative of all we do for him.</p>

<p>ps- composing my post took awhile and finally posted after other replies. I doubt you’ll get a lot of sympathy from parents.</p>

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<p>They have meal plans to generate revenue :)</p>

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<p>Since not all dorms are on meal plans why don’t you switch dorms to one that doesn’t require one. From your description, the only top 25 school that I know that does not have a required meal plan is MIT. A number of dorms have suites with kitchens. Other dorms have huge shared kitchens with personal cupboards.</p>

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<p>Many colleges feel that eating meals together fosters community.</p>

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<p>I can’t believe that it took 6 responses before someone finally mentioned this. I think they make a ton of money on this. Both my kids’ schools required them to be on plans if they are living in the dorms. The least expensive plan is two meals per day.</p>

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<p>The comments in this thread explain why colleges have dining halls.</p>

<p>They do not explain why they have meal plans.</p>

<p>I’m mystified by this myself. Why not just have students pay as they go in the dining halls?</p>

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<p>At my daughter’s school ( a large state school) students can live in the dorms and eat either on a meal plan (points based, you can choose different values depending on your eating habits), or they can eat in the dining halls pay-as-you-go.</p>

<p>My son’s small private college requires everyone to buy into the meal plan, although there are a couple different version of it (one lighter, one full plan.)</p>

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<p>For all the reasons above: because dorms don’t have cooking/storage facilities. Because kids need to have access to healthy food. Because they can generate revenue. </p>

<p>My oldest son had a mandatory full meal plan for freshman fall and then decreasing plans available after first semester. My second son had a full meal plan and what I would call an “almost full” meal plan available for freshman and decreasing plans for upperclass living on campus and a small one meal a day plan for “off campus” students.</p>

<p>There is derivatives of the “pay as you go” plan at both my kids schools…just not for freshman fall. The kids “load” their college ID card with dollars that can be spent at any of the campus eateries. The plans have some differences, but the concept is definitely “pay as you go.”</p>

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<p>My daughter’s large state school has an a-la-carte dining plan. You pay per item rather than one flat priced meal. The idea is to discourage waste and gorging. </p>

<p>It’s just cleaner and safer to have the students eat in a dining hall. Already this quarter, someone in her dorm burned mac and cheese with a forbidden appliance causing a fire alarm at 2am!</p>

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<p>To make sure kids eat a variety of foods, in a setting that fosters building relationships.OP is unusual- most kids I know don’t want to cook!</p>

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<p>warbrain - It sounds like your school is MIT or similar plan. As a parent, I considered lack of meal plan a disadvantage when my son was applying to MIT. </p>

<p>The meal plan at his school is very expensive, but it does force him to go eat (which he would skimp on if it were ala carte). Also, I do think all freshman being on a meal plan encourages socializing. (Not as much so as my college, where the dining hall was open only at certain hours… big bunches of students went down to dinner together).</p>

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<p>I think the “points system…pay as you buy” is about the same as a pay as you go…except it doesn’t require the student to always have cash or a debit card with them. They use their student ID/debit card to debit for their meals. Both of my kids liked that plan.</p>

<p>In addition, at both of their schools “dining hall points” could be used at a large number of off campus food establishments including the campus convenience stores and a bunch of near campus restaurants.</p>

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<p>At my boyfriend’s school they have a choice between having a sort of points system or a certain number of meals. He switched from meals to points last year and that first semester was pretty harrowing, he ran out of points with a month left of school and I had to feed him because his parents wouldn’t. I wonder if that sort of situation is a consideration when schools make decisions about meals vs pay as you go.</p>

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<p>It costs a lot to provide the infrastructure for dining, after which the incremental cost of each additional board plan subscription is lower. Accordingly, it takes a critical mass of meal plan subscribers to make the entire program feasible. Large universities have no problem generating that critical mass, so they can have fully optional board plans. At smaller schools, it’s necessary to have board plan requirements in order to be certain that the critical mass is reached. Otherwise, the cost for those who voluntarily subscribe would be too high to be practical.</p>

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<p>At Oberlin, a fairly high percentage of kids are in eating coops, which means that they shop, prepare and clean up their meals themselves with the blessing of the school. It’s much cheaper than the meal plan, but the time commitment is not trivial.</p>

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<p>All of the schools (mostly small LAC) where my son has applied Freshman have to be on the unlimited meal plan. It also can be used in any other eatery on campus. At a few of the schools the kids can also use their meal cards at restaurants/cafes in town. Since almost all the kids live on campus for all four years they obviously need to have meal plans. When I asked the tour guides most switched from the unlimited to certain number of meals their Jr. and Sr. years.</p>