When it comes to Dining Dollars and meal swipes, the University is stingy. 

Dining Dollars can roll over to the following week, but they cap off at a certain limit, while meals do not roll over — why? Meal swipes should be able to roll into the following week and be converted into Dining Dollars.

The University’s Dining Dollar policy is problematic because first-year students are required to pay for campus housing and a meal plan. The cheapest meal and room plan for 2023-24 new undergraduate students is the Traditional Hall without air conditioning at $11,016. This price is for a quad bedroom with the Room & 12 Classic Meals + 15 Dining Dollars plan. 

But most students do not opt for the cheapest room plan. Rather, they go for a double in a Traditional Hall with air conditioning, so this means that they are paying even more than the $11,016. If a freshman student opts to dorm in Weston, Hopkins, Scott or Snyder this upcoming fall semester, they would be paying $12,576 solely for the meal plan and housing.

This goes into the issue of the meal plan. Just as Dining Dollars roll over, meal swipes should do the same. Even if half of the meal swipes were banked into the next week that would suffice. 

Last week, I had 10 meal swipes at the end of the week. Who’s to say I wasn’t going to eat 17 meals this week? I could have eaten 17 meals this week if even half of my meal swipes had rolled over.

I’m sure there are busy students who would also benefit from meal swipes being exchanged into the equivalent Dining Dollar value. Due to a lack of time, it’s difficult some days to stop into the dining hall; this is a universal issue for undergraduates with a meal plan. 

There should be an option to convert meal swipes into Dining Dollars, even if it is the base breakfast price of $8.78. This would help ensure that students are eating throughout the day, and it would benefit students who are constantly on the go.

It is also important to take into consideration the financial aspect of the meal plans. For students paying out of pocket, the cost is extremely expensive. For the 2023-24 academic year, the 12 Classic Meals + 15 Dining Dollars per week — the cheapest meal plan offered universally — comes in at about $5,234 per academic year for University residents and $5,705.06 for nonresidents.

Even for students who have the cost covered with scholarships or aid, the dining plans should be able to be used to their fullest extent, because if not, that is more money wasted by students and in the University’s pocket.

For the 2023-24 academic year, there is a cheaper plan of only six meals per week at $2,701.02 if one is not a University resident, and $2,478 for residents. The resident plan is only offered to upperclassmen and graduate students who reside in Taft, Van Doren, Sherman, Daniels or University Apartments. 

In reality, eating only six times per week is not reasonable. If someone is looking for the cheapest meal plan because that’s all they can afford, this can lead to food insecurity. 

When comparing our meal plan to Indiana University’s meal plan, we fall short. Their dining options are similarly priced to ours, but they have the option for a meal exchange and slightly more Dining Dollars compared to us. While this option is still not what would be ideal for students, it is better than our dining plan.

The University should allow for meal swipes to roll over to the following week and to be converted into Dining Dollars. Issues of food insecurity, financial difficulty and the required room and dining plan are problems that should not exist at a well-funded university. Student well-being ought to be the University’s highest priority. 

We should not be going hungry throughout our days, and the University should make an effort to accommodate the busy lives of our student population.

Janessa is a freshman in LAS.

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