With the opening of the new dining hall, administrators say university meal plans offer Texas Woman’s University students more for their money.
The cheapest dining plan a student can purchase is a commuter plan, for $300 plus sales tax. The most expensive is the University Meal Plan, at $1900 plus sales tax. Though the average national price for a college meal plan is around $4500, some students say they have not seen the value in purchasing plans they don’t use.
“The lowest plan is for eight swipes, I don’t eat that many times in the Underground,” sophomore Gavvy Griffin said. “I feel like that money’s just getting wasted.”
University administrators said the increased food options in the new dining hall should help address concerns over value for cost.
“Well, if you were to ask me about student complaints two weeks ago, a part of me would agree,” Jill Eckardt, TWU Director of Housing and Dining, said. “With our main dining hall being the Underground, small, not having undergone any renovations or improvements in years.”
Ekardt said the expanded space in the dining hall allows TWU to provide students with more options for how they use their meal swipes and dining dollars.
“Now I think that students will get value, and their dining plan is well worth the new program,” Eckardt said. “As of this week we’re serving over one thousand people a day, where typically we would be serving six to eight hundred.”
Some students agreed the dining options fit well within their needs.
“I think the cheapest meal plan is perfect,” Destinee Martinez, a sophomore child development major, said.
Eckardt said the university is also considering changes to the dining plans offered next year.
“We’ve had some focus groups over the last two weeks, and what has surprised me in those focus groups is that students are asking for more meals as part of their meal plan,” Eckardt said. “Over the next three months we are going to review our meal plans, and I believe we will have a different set of meal plans for next year that potentially will have more dining dollars, and also potentially a choice of more meals per week for those students who stay here.”
More information about TWU meal plans can be found on the TWU website.
Garrett Gantt can be reached via email at ggantt@twu.edu
Featured image: Students wait in line to get food during dinner at the new dining hall at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019. Photo by Sarah Pham.
Be First to Comment