![\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3AUniversity_Tower_dining_hall.jpg;](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/533\/2017\/06\/University_Tower_dining_hall.jpg\")
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Yeah, this is a Thing I Do: \u00a0start to think about a topic, even a relatively inconsequential one, and dig into it, and produce relatively useless information. \u00a0Thing is, pre-blogging, I would just end up doing so for an overly-long period of time, then think, \u201cwell, that was stupid,\u201d and X out of one or two dozen tabs. \u00a0Now at least I have the illusion that I\u2019ve done something of value.<\/p>\n
I wrote on Sunday<\/a> that Marquette University\u2019s meal plan<\/a> was a mind-blowing all-you-can-eat, as many times as you care to eat. \u00a0As much food as you can stuff into yourself, they provide to you via the (mandatory for dorm residents) meal plan. \u00a0I further wrote<\/a> that this was not just limited to private universities, but that even my alma mater, Michigan State, had the same deal<\/a>: \u00a0all meal plans for dorm residents included true-unlimited access to the cafeterias, 7 am \u2013 midnight, and the only difference between them were the number of add-ons (guest passes, \u201cSpartan cash,\u201d etc.).<\/p>\n So then I started asking myself two questions about other universities: \u00a0how much choice do they allow students, and how much do the meals cost?<\/p>\n With respect to the second question, here are the per-meal prices at MSU<\/a>, when purchased as a part of a package:<\/p>\n I can\u2019t find the cost for a single meal price.<\/p>\n How does this compare to a meal plan? \u00a0Well, the cheapest meal plan is $2,857 per semester, which seems to work out to 16 weeks, based on the overall academic calendar<\/a>, though I couldn\u2019t find anything quickly on dates during the semester when the cafeteria is closed, or how much prior to the start of the semester the cafeterias open up. \u00a0But that works out to about $25\/day, or $4 more than the cost of using the most volume-discounted of the off-campus meal packages for three meals a day, which further means that any savings from \u201cyou miss meals when you\u2019re away from campus\u201d is negligible compared to the additional cost of \u201cyou\u2019ll eat all your snacks in the cafeteria, too.\u201d (Back in my day, the cafeteria closed at 7:00 but if you had a schedule that meant a late dinner, you could apply to, as an exception, receive a voucher for the after-hours self-pay grill.)<\/p>\n One tab closed.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s another one: \u00a0the University of Notre Dame<\/a>. \u00a0There is one cost per meal plan for on-campus students, but two choices, depending on how much flexibility to eat at non-dining hall locations you want to have.<\/p>\n The per-meal cost<\/a>, when a part of a package for off-campus students, ranges from $15, for 25 meals plus $110 in \u201cflex point\u201d credits, to $10.50, for a 230-meal package.<\/p>\n At the University of Illinois<\/a>, students can choose from 10, 12 or maximum meal plans, with the last of these offering cafeteria access of up to 7 times per day. \u00a0The meal plans also offer a fixed number of \u201ccredits\u201d which pay for meals at a discounted rate. \u00a0The meals themselves, when purchased through meal plan or add-on credits, range in price by time of day, from $8.03 (credits within plan)\/$9.21 (add-on) for breakfast, to $13.30\/$15.26 for dinner (tax included).<\/p>\n At Loyola<\/a>, we\u2019re back to the \u201cunlimited swipes\u201d plan, with choices for 5 or 7 days per week. \u00a0Their site also provides the \u201cdoor rates<\/a>\u201d for the dining halls: \u00a0$6.75 for breakfast, $8.50 lunch, $9.00 for dinner. \u00a0Whether these are the same rates a guest pays is not clear to me.<\/p>\n Finally, at De Paul<\/a>, the cafeteria has the most public-oriented, traditional cafeteria structure: \u00a0students select a meal plan with a predetermined amount of money loaded onto their card, which is intended to last through the semester based on specified typical usage patterns, with the minimum required plan for on-campus freshmen covering approximately 1.5 \u2013 2 meals per day. \u00a0The cost for the meals? \u00a0\u201cThe average full breakfast costs $6.75, while lunch and dinner may cost anywhere from $9.75 or above, depending upon the menu items ordered.\u201d \u00a0In other words, like a standard company cafeteria, you make your selections and pay at the register for only what you purchase. \u00a0Presumably this set up means that the cafeteria serves not just on-campus students but off-campus students, guests, and other sorts of walk-ins. \u00a0How the prices compare to other choices, I can\u2019t tell \u2014 perhaps the menu would be posted at the link where it\u2019s supposed to be<\/a>, during the school year.<\/p>\n So why did colleges switch to \u201cunlimited\u201d meal plans, especially at places where there is no other choice? \u00a0Is it imagined to be better for students because they can nudge a student into eating an apple as a late-night snack rather than a package of ramen noodles, or because it can get wrapped into their financial aid package and thus be \u201cfree\u201d? \u00a0Is it more convenient for universities to spread out capacity rather than having a dinner rush at 6 pm, because that\u2019s when everyone wants to eat with their floor-mates? \u00a0Is it done solely for marketing purposes?<\/p>\n And is the significant range in prices, even when not bought in volume, from $9 to $15, due to real differences in the cost of providing those meals, or differences in how universities allocate costs (e.g., the capital costs of the cafeteria, vs. the operating costs)?<\/p>\n That being said, I don\u2019t think an \u201cfully unlimited\u201d meal plan is a good thing, even at universities where it\u2019s intended solely for freshmen as everyone else leaves campus quickly. \u00a0Yes, students need to learn to make good decisions about what and how much they eat, but it\u2019s not right to create an unrealistic situation of overabundance and then expect students to resist partaking in it.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Image: \u00a0https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3AUniversity_Tower_dining_hall.jpg; By Howellboy (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yeah, this is a Thing I Do: \u00a0start to think about a topic, even a relatively inconsequential one, and dig into it, and produce relatively useless information. \u00a0Thing is, pre-blogging, I would just end up doing so for an overly-long period of time, then think, \u201cwell, that was stupid,\u201d and X out of one or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":6796,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n\n