While many universities require first-year students to live, work, and eat on campus, N.C . State does not.
N.C . State does, however, mandate that first-year students who reside on campus pay for a University dining meal plan.
According to University Dining, there are various meal plan options to fit the needs of different students.
All meal plan equivalency purchases are tax-exempt, which means students save 7.75 percent on them.
According to the meal plan guide, Board Bucks can be used to buy extra meals if a student has used all of his or her meals for the week, for C-Store or other equivalency purchases, or to cover the difference if a campus restaurant meal was more than a standard meal cost.
For students who use a meal plan package, dining hall meals are the most cost-efficient. If a student ate every meal at a dining hall, he or she would be paying $4.75 for breakfast, $5.85 for lunch/brunch, and $5.85 for dinner.
Some students, however, are not happy with the dining hall selections. Chris Herndon, an alumnus, said he had a basic meal plan his freshman year but mostly used Board Bucks.
“I used my Board Bucks way more than my meals, because the dining halls weren’t very good,” Herndon said.
Though meal plan packages have been a standard requirement for years and appear to be most affordable, more students are beginning to turn to alternative options for food consumption.
Ashlyn Sims, a freshman in business administration, said she started with the 100 meals-per-semester plan, but quickly became eager to switch.
After Sims heard a few of her friends had canceled their meal plans, she said she tried to do the same. Sims said her request was denied because she was a freshman living on campus.
“A few of my suitemates [who are also freshmen] were able to cancel their meal plans completely, and we didn’t do anything differently so I’m not really sure how they got away with it,” Sims said.
Despite being unable to cancel her meal plan, Sims said she has worked out her meal plan package to best suit her needs. She said she prefers to use Board Bucks.
“I realized I was using the majority of my meal plan on $4-5 orders at Port City Java. When I was paying $745 for 100 meals, I felt like I was wasting a lot of money. I knew Board Bucks would be a better option for me,”
Though she has to use her meal plan for the remainder of the year, Sims said she likes to take advantage of the kitchen in her dorm. She said she enjoys cooking and doesn’t want to leave the dorm every time she’s hungry.
“It should be up to us to decide if we want [a meal plan], because many of us just love cooking and would prefer to do that,” Sims said.
Sims said she and her suitemates have even started a “Sunday Dinner” tradition -not in the dining halls, but right in their dorm. She said 14 of her friends take turns cooking their favorite recipes in the lounge kitchen, and then sit down to eat together.
“It reminds me of being home with my family, and that is what I look forward to the most every week,” Sims said.
Like Sims, Julia Van Horn, an undeclared freshman, said she was not satisfied with her meal plan. Van Horn, however, was able to cancel her package. She said she prefers not having a meal plan, because the freedom allows her to pick and choose the foods she wants to eat each day.
“I’m fairly health conscious, so it allows me to nix a lot of the unhealthy food options on campus,” Van Horn said.
Van Horn said that meal plan packages amount to a lot of wasted money. She said she would rather have the extra money each month to buy healthy groceries.
Canceling her meal plan has helped her learn to budget her money from month to month for food, Van Horn said.
“Once I started paying for all of my food with my debit card, I gained a greater appreciation for my money, and became more aware of how much I was spending,” Van Horn said.
Although meal plans provide many convenient options, some students are looking for more cost-efficient, healthy options. And while first-year students on campus are required to have a meal plan, some are searching for a way out.