In today’s economy, colleges and universities have a high price tag and many students find that they are struggling to afford things as simple as a meal plan. Most college meal plans are several thousand dollars each year and many students choose not sign up in an effort to save money. The major issue with this is that students and the universities argue over the cost of meals that is rebated when a student does not sign up. According to most administrations, schools should only have to rebate the marginal cost of food alone, lets say, $1.25 per meal. Yet students argue that the marginal cost should include more costs, such as the saved space from fewer students using facilities and the reduced labor expenses on food preparation. This would raise the marginal cost to $6.00. What I contend is that with the price of college tuition at a constant high, colleges should be more conscientious of setting their dining hall prices and should consider the cost to students.
In my opinion, the students have a valid argument worth significant consideration. By having fewer students in the dining hall, universities have fewer expenses. There is less to put out for labor, capital and whatever other expenses are associated with food preparation. By logic, the money that colleges collect to invest into food preparation should be rebated to students who choose not to use dining services.
On the other hand, colleges argue, especially those that are private, that they have the right to charge what they choose and rebate a specific cost. They feel that they still need the labor expenses for other students and that the students who get rebated should only be rebated the cost of the actual meal. However, colleges should consider that when planning the initial plans of the dining hall they should at minimum, define the line strongly between costs of food and what the student will receive back. There should be one price for both the cost of food they charge for students and the price the students will receive back. This way the students will feel that the rebate price is fair. Colleges should also consider building the dining hall at a certain size initially, not too big. This way they can gauge how many students actually continue the dining plan all four years and leave room to grow so that they are not paying overhead costs for a smaller population.
But consider this, if $1.25 is what colleges figure as a person eating, how is it justifiable to charge students who choose the dining hall plan $6.00 for the cost of their meal. Many colleges argue that this cost includes the cost of hiring chefs, electricity for the dining hall, silver wear, clean up workers and even the water bill. Although this makes sense, there needs to be a modification of the way colleges charge students. If they are to charge $6.00 for a meal then colleges should rebate the same price back as to avoid confrontation with students.
The Econ Diaries 