Changing the price structure for room and board rates will have a neutral effect on the budget for Ball State University, but may have a positive effect on students' pocketbooks.
Some students said they wish the room and board rates had been restructured earlier, while others said they like having so much dining plus associated with smaller meal plans.
Jon Lewis, director of Campus Dining Services, described the change as cost- and revenue-neutral. He said the university reviews the structure of meal plans each year and compares Ball State to other universities. He said next year will be a testing phase, and the system will be re-evaluated the following year.
'The school doesn't lose or gain any money from the varied price structure,' he said.
Sophomore Ashleigh Bing said she likes the new structure. She said she rarely uses all of her 10-meal plan every week.
'I don't eat as much as some people,' she said. 'College students are usually the poor kids, and we like savings wherever it counts.'
For some upperclassmen, the variation in pricing structure comes a year too late. Junior Katelyn Helms said she wishes she had an option when she was still living in the dorms.
'I had a 14-meal plan, and I was always adding junk food to spend all my money,' she said. 'I don't think we need that much dining plus anyway.'
Junior Alicia Davis said she likes the way meal plans are set up now with more dining plus relative to the smaller meal plans. Davis has a 10-meal plan, but she said she doesn't like to eat at meal times.
'I do eat that much food, I just want that money in dining plus,' she said. 'I like that cushion, instead of gorging during meals.'
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