by Michael Skinner

Created on: July 31, 2009   Last Updated: August 01, 2009

A college meal plan is essentially a prepaid debit card for food. On some grounds it can be seen as a convenience for the college and for food vendors who service the college. The college and vendors can plan how much food to buy based on how much meal plan money they wring out of students.

One of the first things you should do concerning meal plans is ask the administrators at your school how to get more information about them. What are the options? How much does each option cost? Where are the places you can eat in relation to dormitories and classes?

Examine the different plans is to see if special dietary considerations are accommodated. If you are a strict vegetarian or if you are allergic to nuts, you need to find out if the existing meal plans will meet your needs. If not, you might be able to make alternative arrangements with the food service people. If that won't work then don't waste your money on the meal plan-you will be making your own meals.

Some other considerations are: Do you live on campus? If you are commuting from home or have your own apartment, it may be inconvenient to have to drive in and eat breakfast. So you may not want a plan or you may want a plan that covers lunches only. If you eat a lot you may want the Jelly Donuts Meal Plan. It covers munchies or between meal snacks. If you have odd hours then you need to know that you can still get fed off the meal plan even if the main kitchen is closed.

It might be wise to have a certain stash of edibles in your dorm room. The stash should not be sweet and sticky stuff that attracts ants. Also beware of buying tons of perishables that will rot quickly. A bag of apples that you dip into now and again is probably a good compromise.

Meanwhile, back at the meal plans, you need to try to predict the future. If you know you will be on campus all year and that you will almost never eat a meal off campus, then go for the large meal plan. Often due to economies of scale, the larger and more expensive meal plan will actually give you are cheaper per meal rate.

There is some point at which the small plans are not cost effective. If you are actually thinking that the 10 meal plan might suit you, you might be better off packing apples and granola bars in your book bag and not wasting money on food you will never eat.

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