WELLESLEY, Mass. — The main dining hall at Wellesley College is in the $65 million, 12-year-old Lulu Chow Wang Campus Center — students call it Lulu — overlooking Lake Waban.
In front of floor-to-ceiling windows through which they can admire the idyllic setting, and in other dining halls around the meticulously landscaped campus, they can have their pick of food all day, from make-your-own waffles and made-to-order omelets to fresh-baked pastries, Niman Ranch meats, daily artisan plates, local seafood, and a variety of ice creams.
“Sometimes I look at the meal I’m eating and I’m, like, I have two eggs and toast. This is not worth $12,” said Mieke Bovbjerg, a 19-year-old sophomore from Pittsburgh. That’s what Bovbjerg figures she spends per meal, considering she skips a few over the course of the academic year.
An analysis of campus dining contracts from around the country shows that colleges are charging students far more for each meal than the typical American spends to eat at home, helping drive the rising cost of higher education.
The average college and university charges about $4,500, or $18.75 per day, for a three-meal-a-day dining contract that covers the eight months or so of a typical academic year, according to information the institutions provide to college guide Peterson’s.
That’s more than the average $3,989, or less than $11 a day, that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates a single person spends for food in a year, meaning undergraduates appear to be forking out 70 percent more per day on campus than they would likely pay to cook and eat on their own.
