All college students can’t be having a job to pay for food while living at college, so how do they pay for food? Does your parents send you money? Is there a difference if you live in a dorm with a kitchen or a cafeteria? Do you get money from the college to afford food while you are studying there?
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Most colleges include a meal plan with your tuition. Yes most kids do not need jobs just to eat. Though it’s not uncommon to happen.
Usually student loans cover meal plans or loan money can be used for food if a student doesn’t buy a meal plan. Some colleges require you to live on campus and purchase a meal plan the first year.
Most Colleges require the purchase of a meal plan as part of their various fees. These meal plans will allow you to purchase meals at the Cafeteria, and often at the satellite cafe sites around campus (if they have them).
Dorms very very rarely have kitchens. If they do they are typically not in the dorm room. There will be a single kitchen for the floor or even the entire building that can be reserved for use the way you would reserve a computer lab or reserve a private study room in the library.
Loans, jobs, and/or parents.
Everyone I knew in college had some sort of job, except the one guy who was rich. My meal plan was covered by my scholarships, but I had a job for spending money and food for the weekend.
Join every club, sign up for every catered even, check the teacher lounge after staff meetings. Learn enough to fit in with that major and act like you belong there and you should be fine.
Personally? Probably not really the norm you’re going to hear from everyone else, but as an on-and-off homeless, I was only able to go to college at all on a grant each year. You get to keep whatever little amount you don’t have to spend on books and tuition. The rest of that money all went to food or towards gas to get to campus. All of it.
You have, let’s say, $330. You can get a giant pizza here for $5 and make that pizza last for 4-5 days. Make it work.
It wasn’t ideal. The third time my bio instructor noticed my head almost hitting the desk at break, he gave me a nickname and I don’t think he ever realized that I wasn’t exhausted, I was just starving. But it was still the best time of my life. I loved it there.
Meal plans are usually part of the college experience. Also they usually involve buffet style cafeterias and students can eat a lot. The freshman 15 are real. (People say that students eat so much they’ll gain 15 pounds their first year)
My wife went to a very liberal school that offers free meals. There was this group of students there that called themselves Freegans, they ate out of trash cans.🤷♂️
Every student that decides to live on campus is usually required to purchase a meal plan by their college, of which there are a variety to choose from.
Most if not all plans also include various cash allowances for the student to spend at on-campus restaurants.
If you live on campus, it’s often included in your room and board.
Most colleges have meal plans so it’s paid for in their tuition
They have jobs
They get money from parents or other gifts
Lots have jobs.
Also, loans generally cover meal plans.
Financial aid considers the cost of food. Personally, I have a job
Meal Plan. At some schools it’s part of the tuition or room and board cost.
Student loans cover cost of living
When i was in college I had a job. Sometimes, expenses were so high (I was paying for my wife’s tuition in cash because the college was threatening to send us to collections), we would have to use my gas station credit card to buy junkfood to live off of
Colleges charge a Room & Board fee on top of their tuition cost, which is usually a couple thousand dollars per semester…that estimate is based on costs 15 years ago though. This fee includes a meal plan and pays for using on-campus housing. Student loans (and many scholarships) will cover the Room & Board fee. (Students can opt to live off-campus and not pay the Room & Board fee, but then they’d have to rely on money from a job or parents to pay for their food and housing.)
There are usually a few options for a meal plan, which have different levels of meals and points. One meal allows you entry into the university cafetaria. Points basically act like a currency at various other food services at the campus. My university had a coffee shop, a small convenience type store to buy snacks, and a food court type area where you could spend the points.
You very much can have a job in college. I worked in the college cafeteria (work study), and worked at Walgreens. Both jobs sucked.
Meal plans (which you often get or can opt into as part of your room and board)
Student loans
Help from parents
Student jobs (which are designed to work within students’ class schedules)
Cafeteria
As part of the overall costs of attending college, one fee is “room & board” which is costs for living in the dorms and some sort of meal plan that covers most meals. Room & Board could be covered with loans like tuition.
People attending college also often get spending money from parents for eating out, or save money from summer jobs, part-time jobs, etc.
I had a part time job and worked two jobs during the summer.
My college had a huge fraternity/sorority scene with massive houses. My fraternity house slept 65 and we had a chef. He cooked lunch and dinner Monday-Friday. Weekends we just ate on campus or out. Breakfast was a cereal bar, fruit etc, Friday mornings we had brunch – omelettes, biscuits, bacon etc. If you couldn’t make a meal you could reserve a late plate. It was awesome
Meal plans can be added to tuition costs
I have grants and financial aid my good sir. And parents sorry.
I have a job to pay for food and bills, rent and tuition goes on the student loan, and included in the tuition is $350 for food on campus per semester. You just eat very cheap and never have any free time, relying on caffeine and distractions to stave off exhaustion and the cloying sense of existential dread.
All different ways. Some colleges have meal plans, so they eat in the cafeteria there. Some parents give their kids money. Some students get jobs. Some use part of their student loans to buy food.
Food is hardly a major expense compared to tuition and books. The price of a few of my text books would have fed me for a semester.
Some of the csus california have food banks for students and staff.
For me? I didn’t.
I had scholarships that paid tuition and room, but food was scraping by. I’d buy 10 for 10 canned tomato sauce, bread mix and eat that. Store brand mac and cheese. Packaged rice and beans was a treat. Once a week, go to CiCis (cheap pizza buffet). Get coffee from lounge rooms.
In today’s prices, I probably existed on $2 a day. It was rough.
Could be several things. My school has meal plans that pay for either one, two or all three of your daily meals. Some take out jobs and buy their own food. Some get money from their parents. I kind of was in a weird situation where I got a check for the loan and grant money that wasn’t going directly to school stuff at the beginning of the semester and was able to use that to buy food while I was at school.
> Does your parents send you money?
Yes, most college students who graduate come from above-average family backgrounds. That’s why social class is a huge predictor of academic achievement.
The NYTimes did a study on this, but the median student at my university comes from an upper-middle class background and anecdotally all my immediate friends have parental support for food & rent.
Most financial aid gives you a modest amount of money left over for this, if you’re careful. Students who live on that end up eating a lot of ramen and other cheap foods. I used to order from a sub (sandwich) place that would deliver if your order was at least 10 dollars. This was waaaaaay before door dash and other food delivery programs. I would order two simple subs for about 12, then eat 1/2 of a sub for a meal for the next four dinners. I’d also buy $1 bean-and-cheese burritos at the taco place. Fun times.
Seriously, though, in spite of the grim food—I do look back upon those years fondly.
When I was in college, i ate twice a day. Toast with peanut butter for breakfast. Ramen or cheap frozen burritos for dinner. Except on Friday, when I would go to a local bar. They had 32oz beer for a dollar and all you can eat buffet. Food was garbage, but after a 32 oz beer who gives a damn.
I lived at home and had a part time job. I commuted and stayed in the same state which saves you a lot of money
If you live on campus your generally required to get a meal plan. These plans will vary from college to college. Mine for example required everyone living on the main campus to buy the all you can eat plan. Only commuters and those living in one of the “satellite” dorms (they had 2 buses running between the locations non stop and took like 8 minutes) were exempt from having to buy it. Then too those “satellite” dorms had their own fridge and stove, etc…. in the unit.
Also, most of the clubs had budgets so things like anime club, dnd club, gaming, ESports, (yeah it was filled with nerds), and don’t forget the political party clubs they have food too, they just spent their money on food as it was use it or lose it and who didn’t want free food that wasn’t cafeteria food. Their was always multiple clubs happening every night, so you had to be pretty stupid to starve. In fact, smart ones like myself learned most events (doesn’t need to be club related, such as the fundraisers they ran, or really any event they could rent out to) once they are done, you can just take what you want and no one said anything or cared, staff wouldn’t show up to clean it up till hours afterwards. So just find a spot you can do homework and watch the event from, and once they basically left, head in and take what you want (don’t leave a mess) and leave. I also got free food from my internship. Once filled my lunch box with nothing but the small (I am taking tiny) ben and jerrys ice cream when no one was in the break room.
Yeah, if your a college student and manage to starve to death, that means you were to dumb to be there, or went to a community college like place.
parents, food kitchens, a lot of college events provide pizza or hoagies