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Off-campus meal plans are becoming more common at colleges and universities, allowing students to use their ID cards to pay for meals at participating restaurants. This provides more variety and convenience, but can be more expensive and require careful research. Partnering with local businesses benefits both students and the community.
Many colleges and universities, where students live on campus or in nearby apartments, now offer the option of an off-campus meal program. Typically, this is a complementary addition to a more traditional plan offered to get regular meals at a cafeteria or student cafeteria. An off-campus meal plan allows students to visit nearby participating restaurants and pay for meals there using their college ID cards. This allows students to get more variety in their meal options, save money with discounts, and have more affordable options for dining if they live off campus. It’s important for students to research the plan thoroughly, however, as these meal plans can be more expensive to buy up front and can cause some students to spend more money than they normally would.
Offering an off-campus dining program allows colleges and universities to partner with local businesses to offer dining options to students, often in a win-win situation. Some participating restaurants may even offer discounts to students if they purchase meals using their off-campus meal plan. The main benefit of these plans is that they allow college students a number of dining options beyond the standard cafeteria fare, or food found at a campus cafe or student union.
If students live and work away from campus, an off-campus meal plan can be much more convenient for them, rather than having to constantly return to campus to eat. Some meal plans also offer students the ability to manage their accounts online, such as adding funds and tracking their spending habits, allowing them to see how much money they’ve spent on food each year. The convenience factor is also upped with an off-campus meal plan because it allows students to eat at any time; they are not limited to the opening hours of the dining room or cafeteria.
However, there are some potential downsides to an off-campus meal plan. First, such a meal plan may be more expensive to purchase up front, if the university requires funds to be preloaded onto cards. Additionally, students may end up spending more per semester than they would simply eating at a dining hall, even if restaurants offer discounts. Some universities avoid this, by simply charging students for a “meal” on their card, regardless of the cost at a restaurant. It is therefore essential that students planning to enroll in an off-campus meal plan are sure they understand the details before paying for it.
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