House dining popular with 15’s
1,888 students enrolled in dining plan, 45% are freshmen
The new House Dining program is popular among freshmen, but less so among upperclassmen, according to enrollment statistics released to The Tech by the Division of Student Life. The mandatory meal plan for residents of Maseeh, Baker, Next, Simmons, and McCormick amassed a total enrollment of 1,888 students, 45 percent of which are freshmen.
Fourteen percent of all dining plan participants do not live in a dining dorm and voluntarily opted in, and 14 percent of all students in non-dining dorms joined the program. In addition, 719 students chose to “opt-up” from a required meal plan to a more expensive one. The cheapest plan — “Any 7,” available only to juniors and seniors — is $2,500/year for 210 meals, and the most expensive — required for all Maseeh freshmen — is $4,500/year for 570 meals.
Out of the 446 juniors and seniors who were eligible for Any 7, 110 of them, or 25 percent, chose to opt-up to a more expensive plan. And out of the 258 students who opted-in but were not required to enroll in any plan at all, 173 were freshmen and 88 upperclassmen. In other words, 38 percent of freshmen and 3.8 percent of upperclassmen who were eligible to opt-in chose to do so.
The Tech reported last month that the implementation of House Dining did not appear to substantially affect upperclassman dormitory transfer rates or dormitory popularity in the freshman adjustment lottery.
Overall, the “Any” category of dining plans is the most popular, with 930 students — 49 percent of those enrolled in a plan — choosing a plan that allows them to use a set number of meals per week for any combination of breakfasts, brunches, lunches, or dinners. About 30 percent of students in a dining plan chose “basic,” which offers a set number of breakfasts and dinners. Twenty-three percent are enrolled in “19 Full,” House Dining’s most expensive plan, which affords all 19 breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner meals per week.