With rising tuition prices at 4-year colleges, paying for dedicated meal plans is mostly an overlooked expense. Budgeting for college years goes beyond only paying up the tuition fees. Depending on the particular school and the student, most families do not pay heed to additional costs involved with living a college life –right from accommodation to dining costs.
How College Meal Plans in the US Work?
Typically, all universities and colleges across the United States offer students some meal plan. To pay for the respective meals, you are required to swipe the special dining card or the student ID, and the meal gets automatically subtracted from the total meal allotment. There are some meal plans in colleges that would restrict you from buying meal plans for other students.
Based on the college, the meals that you get could be truly gourmet or entirely satisfactory. The quality of food might also vary depending on the time when you reach the dining hall. Whether you arrive early or late in the dining hall, the prices might vary.
Types of Meal Plans in Colleges
Most colleges in the USA offer different levels of student meal plans. Some are:
· Flex Meal Plans: The plan features a fixed number of meals along with dedicated ‘flex’ points. You can make use of the points for ensuring cash-free purchases at the dining hall or cafeteria. You can even use the points at some specified off-campus dining locations.
· Unlimited Meal Plans: These meal plans offer you access to unlimited meals for every period. These usually come with a fixed number of flex points.
· 14 Meal Plans: These have 14 meals for every week.
· 21 Meal Plans: These have 21 meals for every week.
· Off-campus Meal Plans: The given meal plans typically span the entire semester or quarter, and not just the week. For instance, it can come up with 25 meals that you can use anytime.
When you choose the best college meal plan, you should consider your current eating habits and accommodation.
Is It Required to Buy a Meal Plan?
Most colleges and schools in America require students to go for a particular meal plan during their freshman year. In some institutions, there are meal plans for students who are living in the dorms.
What is the Cost of College Meal Plans?
The costs can vary significantly depending on the particular college. For instance, meal plans at some private institutions can cost over $3000 for every semester. Some cases you would like to go through are:
· One meal per day -$1,680 per quarter
· Two meals per day -$2,284 per quarter
· Off-campus Meal plan -$149 per pack
· Unlimited Meal plan -$2,284 per quarter
· Two meals per day -$2,653 per school year
· Unlimited Meal Plan -$3,279 per school year
Meal Plan Credit Limits
With meal credits, students can purchase a meal corresponding to the total amount of the credits at the college.
Meal credits tend to vary depending on meal period and location. If you stay under the rate as per the charged meal, you will not owe anything more. On the other hand, if you consider spending more, you can make up for the given difference with dining dollars or some other form of payment that is acceptable.
Conclusion
College meal plans in the USA can get expensive, and students need other avenues to spend their meal credits. Universities can benefit a huge deal by partnering with sVang — The next-gen off-campus dining partner.
