7

I've noticed that this idea of a "meal plan" among students is pretty common in the US. Usually this involves:

  • Some amount of money (e.g. "flex dollars") that can be spent on any food (or sometimes even other things) that the student desires, provided that the student spends this money on certain on-campus locations.

  • The student may get a fixed number of "meal swipes" for eating at the dining hall.

  • This is all paid for in-advance by students, often as part of a "room and board" fee.

  • Some universities even require students to purchase such a plan if the student lives in certain parts of university housing, even at some urban universities where there might be more dining options. (I have heard students claim that it would cost the same amount of money as a meal plan to eat at neighbourhood restaurants.)

I have also seen some version of this in Canadian schools: for instance, there was a complaint circulating about poor dining hall management at Memorial University, which alludes to a required meal plan. Generally speaking, as a student, it seems that such meal plans are chiefly used by undergraduates, although I've also seen graduate students eat at the dining hall.

I suspect that this system is specific to North America, although I'm not completely sure. For instance, I saw this document, which stated that the Hebrew University doesn't carry meal plans. I've noticed that university cafeterias in Hong Kong make students pay for food with actual cash when they get their meal, even if there are occasional loyalty schemes (of the same variety that might appear at any fast-food restaurant) or discounted items (where things are much cheaper than they would be off-campus). From a quick glance, HKU and HKUST's housing websites appear to make no mention of any sort of "meal plan". (Meanwhile, the University of Chicago's housing website has a page for residential dining.)

Thus: is the meal plan system (where students pay in advance for dining hall meals and potentially other on-campus perks) a chiefly North American thing? For obvious reasons, I would assume that it would be more common in heavily non-commuter universities (which perhaps dominate the US and Canada more than the rest of the world), but I'm wondering if this is generally true, even if we take the commuter/non-commuter thing into account.

  • 3
    Would you explain why this question has something to do with Academia? – Nobody May 04 '15 at 06:27
  • 3
    @scaaahu: I assumed student life conventions might be on topic. (If anything, I was unsure if something more relevant to undergrads was on-topic here, but I saw some questions about undergrad admissions here.) That said, I wasn't sure, and I'll delete the question if it's blatantly off-topic. –  May 04 '15 at 06:32
  • Your question is not undergrad only. I wasn't questioning that. I am unsure whether it's blatantly off-topic either. My explanation is that most universities are in college towns. Eating at the dining hall is probably the most convenient way. "Meal plan" probably can help save money. In other locations (other than North America), you can eat outside the campus. My guess. – Nobody May 04 '15 at 07:05
  • 1
    Who gives the money for meal? The government? The university? – JiK May 04 '15 at 07:08
  • I must admit based on this answer, I do not quite understand what a "meal plan" is. Therefore, while I might be from a place that does not have "meal plans", I do not feel sufficiently informed to respond. If the "meal plan" involves "some amount of money", is that not "real money", or based upon "real money"? Or, if you just mean that the "real money" (as in, cash, or generally (outside of campus) accepted cards) is not directly used on campus, but rather just to recharge some card that is then used on campus, isn't that a rather superficial operational difference that may differ by ... – O. R. Mapper May 04 '15 at 07:09
  • ... university)? I am particularly confused as you seem to describe "a complaint circulating about poor dining hall management at Memorial University" as a sign that there is "some version of [meal plans]" somewhere. Does that mean any on-campus food supply run by the university or an attached organization implies the existence of a "meal plan"? In that case, most universities I have visited so far had a "meal plan", even though, at the same time, all of them had to be paid with very "real money" (coins and banknotes). Would you mind to clarify what constitutes a "meal plan", please? – O. R. Mapper May 04 '15 at 07:14
  • @O.R.Mapper The Meal Plan Overview at University of Iowa is probably a typical example. To the OP, would you confirm? – Nobody May 04 '15 at 07:19
  • @scaaahu: yep, this is what I'm thinking of. I'm going to put in some edits to clarify this. –  May 04 '15 at 07:21
  • @scaaahu: Mhm, I see. From the linked walk-in prices list it looks like buying such a meal plan in advance is (at least at that particular university) the only way to get a discount (for being a student, for instance)? Is that a typical trait of a meal plan? Or, conversely, does the presence of student discounts at on-campus food locations imply something like an implicit "meal plan"? – O. R. Mapper May 04 '15 at 07:25
  • @O.R.Mapper Frankly, I don't know the answer. Last time I ate food by "meal plan" was long time ago. I had the vague memory that dorm food was not tasty. I'll leave this to someone more knowledgable to answer this question. – Nobody May 04 '15 at 07:41
  • @scaaahu: Fair enough. I thank the OP for the clarifications so far and keep asking for more clarifications, as I suspect the variety in systems for this around the world is so vast that lots of similar systems that might or might not be interpreted as "something like meal plans" exist. (And, in particular, some of these systems may not have a "catchy name" like "meal plan" in the respective places, but they may only exist in the form of implicit descriptions ("You have to pay ...¤ ... a part of that is used to fund food supply. You are entitled to ... free meals each semester.").) – O. R. Mapper May 04 '15 at 07:44
  • @O.R.Mapper: come to think of it, I know of Australian students who were provided with breakfast along with their dorm room. If I take CU's definition of the meal plan in relation to HUJI, this also counts as one. But the main thing I'm interested in is whether not paying an advance lump sum for regular meals is really as common outside of North America as I expect it to be. As for the Memorial University case, the Imgur poster states on the second image that because they lived in residence, they had to buy a meal plan and eat at the dining hall. –  May 04 '15 at 08:08
  • 2
    I edited out "undergraduate" to prevent it from close votes. – Nobody May 04 '15 at 09:26
  • 5
    As a student from the US currently in the UK, it was my impression that the meal plan in the US was a way to sucker students into paying more money by making it mandatory, forcing the students to buy more meals than they normally use, and making the price more than the quality of food would reflect. (The meal plan at Iowa linked above is the best price I've seen by a US university.) In contrast, my limited experience with dining halls in the UK is positive, in that they are giving fair prices (3-5 pounds a meal). I am very interested in whether this occurs elsewhere in the world. – DCT May 04 '15 at 09:39
  • 3
    There is also meal plans in some of the halls the National University of Singapore and it's mandatory: "Students staying in the Halls are required to subscribe to meal plans." – justhalf May 04 '15 at 11:46
  • 1
    The idea between behind mandatory meal plans to make sure students aren't eating ramen only for the entire term, and in many US dorms, there aren't enough kitchens available for students to cook for themselves. – mkennedy May 04 '15 at 16:55
  • 5
    I was on a meal plan as a Ph.D. graduate student in the US, so I don't understand the rationale behind closing this question. – Sverre May 04 '15 at 18:15
  • 2
    I am also about to be a PhD student with a meal plan in the US, so I think it is still relevant to graduate students. – DCT May 05 '15 at 10:28

4 Answers4

10

This is not unique to North America and the idea of a meal plan exists in the UK. In the UK halls (i.e., dorms) are either self-catered or catered. Catered halls usually provide breakfast and dinner and in some cases either lunch, a boxed lunch, or points that can be spent on campus.

StrongBad
  • 104,237
  • 30
  • 262
  • 484
8

I am still not entirely sure about the boundary of "meal plans", but, based on the discussion in the comments, I will answer based on this partial question by the OP:

I'm interested in is whether not paying an advance lump sum for regular meals is really as common outside of North America

As far as I know, German universities usually have no meal plans, if that means signing up (let alone being obliged to sign up) for a contract that equals a certain amount of vouchers specifically for getting meals (and possibly other paid-for services).

Usually, on-campus lunchrooms are run by student service organizations that are separate entities from the universities. These organizations are partly subsidized from tax money, and partly funded based on a solidarity fee that has to be paid by every enrolled student every semester (e.g. €60). As a result, meals in such on-campus lunchrooms (which often really just offer lunch, and only from Mon to Fri) can be bought at a "normal" price (comparable to very cheap restaurants, e.g. around €4 to €5 for one main dish) by guests, while anyone connected to the university gets a certain discount (e.g. there might be two discount levels, one for students (e.g. roughly €2 to €2.50 for one main dish), one for employees). This buying of meals, however, is spontaneous and can be repeated as often as desired, i.e. there is not a fixed amount of previously ordered coupons, and the transaction for the discounted price takes place only then and there in the lunchroom.

So, in a way, students have to pay beforehand, but it's not a payment that is 1:1 mapped to meals. Your mileage may vary on whether to consider that a "meal plan"-like system.

The prices are examples that fit for some German universities, but certainly not all. I have added them to convey a rough idea of the extent of discounts and total payments.

O. R. Mapper
  • 18,363
  • 3
  • 46
  • 84
7

There is no such thing either in my native France or in Japan where I am currently located. You pay for your on-campus meals either in cash or using a prepaid e-money card, and it is certainly not required to eat on campus. (I suspect that introducing such a requirement would lead to massive protests.)

fkraiem
  • 1,343
  • 9
  • 13
0

I think forcing students to spend part of their money on campus would be illegal where I live (and in most of the western world). I'm actually kind of surprised this is still going on in the US, especially given the US protests against the truck system in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Anonymous
  • 1