Barton dollars 1 – Meal Plans

Ever wonder where all of your money you spend on Barton stuff goes?

The college not only offers, but REQUIRES, students to purchase a $3,600 meal plan if they are living on campus. The plans come in semester packages requiring you to spend $1,800 on one of the three options:

1. 19 meals per week and $85 Bully Bucks.
2. 14 meals per week and $115 Bully Bucks.
3. 10 meals per week and $218 Bully Bucks. (Only available to East Campus Suites residents.)

That is a crapload of money for meals that are not all that stellar. Let’s break it down, just for fun.

There are 14 weeks in a semester.

For Option 1, we subtract the $85 worth of Bully Bucks from the overall $1,802 meal plan cost, leaving us with $1,717 worth of food left. At 19 meals per week for 14 weeks, that comes to 266 meals (19×14=266). Find the cost per meal by dividing $1,717 by 266, and you find that each meal costs $6.45.

Not shabby.

Option 2 is a little more expensive. $1,802-$115=$1,687. $1,687 divided by 196 (14 meals x 14 weeks) equals $8.61.

Option 3 gets almost obscene. $1,802-$218=$1,584. $1,584 div. by 140 (10 meals x 14 weeks) equals $11.31.

What college kid pays $11 for one meal? Seriously?

Where does that money go?

Why do they charge us so much?

Why requires us to get on the meal plan?