Even as rates increased slightly this year, student enrollment in Dining Services meal plans remained strong.
Five out of the six meal plans offered by Dining Services increased in price from last year. The 40 Plan, which offers 40 meals per semester, is $22 more this semester than last spring, a price hike of nearly 5 percent. The 80 Plan increased by 3.5 percent, while the Premium Plan, which offers unlimited access to Carmichael and Dewick MacPhie Dining Halls, climbed 2 percent in price. Only the 160 Plan dropped 3 percent below last year's rate. But even though the increases make buying meals a la carte more advantageous, the strong numbers are an indication students continue to believe that the cost of dining on campus under a meal plan is fair.
The number of students purchasing a Premium Plan has increased over the last several years, and this year's participation is on par with last year, according to Director of Dining and Business Services Patti Klos.
Overall, 50 fewer students enrolled in meal plans this year compared to last, but Klos interpreted the high enrollment in the Premium Plan as a sign that students continue to see the dining halls as not only convenient but affordable.
"We're seeing people staying on that full plan, I think because it is a good value and because they know how to use it to their best advantage," Klos said.
Junior Louis Tamposi, who has chosen the Premium Plan every year he has been at Tufts, agreed.
"I think it's fair," he said. "I eat a lot, and I think it's worked really great for me."
Still, a little math reveals that purchasing a meal plan may not be as advantageous as buying in bulk commonly is.
A meal purchased as part of any of the five limited plans comes out to between $11 and $12. The only instance of a meal ringing in below $11 is on the Premium Plan, with which meals are technically unlimited.
An individual meal purchased with either cash or JumboCash, however, more often than not comes to less than this $11 price tag. The "door price" of breakfast purchased at the dining hall is $6.17, while lunch costs $10.09. Only dinner, priced at $12.10 with JumboCash, is more expensive than the cost of a meal on a meal plan.
Senior John Atsalis purchased the 40 Plan this semester with this price disparity in mind. Atsalis uses his meal plan only for dinners, though even the savings on that, he said, are slim.
"It's not a lot of incentive," Atsalis said, citing a mere 20−cent savings between the cost of dinner on his meal plan and buying dinner with JumboCash. "I might as well just pay."
Klos acknowledged the disparity in price between the cost of meals purchased through a plan and those purchased individually, but said that the latter will soon catch up with the former.
"The cost per meal on a plan is a better [reflection] on what those services really cost," she said. "Door prices will likely change in the next year or two to more accurately reflect the real cost of those meals."
Meal plan rates historically correlate with tuition raises, Klos said. This fall's small spike in fees can also be attributed to inflation of the cost of food and supplies, coupled with giving Dining Services employees a small raise.
"This year, the university said it would budget in a 2 percent raise for everyone, and that's the majority reason why the Premium Plan went up 2 percent," Klos said.
Sophomore Christina Luo said that even though eating in the dining hall may be expensive, prices are reasonable for what it offers.
"Considering the fact that it's like an all−you−can−eat buffet," she said, "I definitely think it's a fair price."
As a fully self−supporting institution, Dining Services does not receive money from anywhere within or outside the university, according to Klos. Dining administrators, in turn, determine meal plan rates with the knowledge that they must cover all of their operating expenses on their own.
The move to make Tufts' dining halls trayless, however, may offer some leeway. Klos estimated that Dining Services could this year save about $52,000 on electricity and food waste with the elimination of trays.
This translates to a savings of only $13 for each of the roughly 4,000 students on meal plans. Yet any additional food savings that the trayless measure generates could translate into more savings down the road.
"If you take less, we might have to buy less," Klos said. "One possibility is to decrease price hikes on meal plans or not go up at all."
For freshman Laura Suarez, though, the issue is not just the price of the plans, but the fact that freshmen and sophomores are required to purchase one at all. Next year, she plans to purchase the smallest meal plan she can.
"I would be better off getting a cheaper meal plan and eating fewer meals," she said. "I know how to cook my own meals."
Despite their relationship with tuition increases, dining hall plan rate hikes should not have a major impact on students receiving financial aid. The Office of Financial Aid works with students to make sure that the cost of meal plans does not tempt students to cut down on food intake. Patricia Reilly, director of financial aid and co−manager of Student Financial Services, said that when determining the aid awarded to a student, her office uses a budget that includes the cost of the Premium Plan.
"It's important that students have enough to eat," she said.
