Many students are struggling with their meal plan options at PSU, and it's no wonder they are. The current options in place do not give students much say with what they do with the meals they pay for.
It's hard for students to choose a meal plan when they know they have to utilize the entire meal plan perfectly for that semester, as Dining Swipes and Board FlexCash associated with meal plans are only valid for the semester for which they are purchased and expire at the close of the corresponding undergraduate semester. That being said, if I purchase the "Gold 225" plan, I am purchasing 225 dining swipes during the semester and can also either purchase $300 in FlexCash or not choose to purchase Flexcash at all. That plan costs $1,839 with the $300 FlexCash and $1,569 without. So if I were to purchase this plan and only use 200 meals throughout the course of the semester, the remaining 25 meals would not roll over to the next semester. Instead, the money that I spent on 25 meals would have been a simple waste. And as the semester is wrapping up, there are some students who have 80+ meal swipes remaining and some students who have run out entirely. Check out the options students have here.
Other Universities have meal plans that allow students to transfer their meals to their friends who don't have any. If PSU allowed this option, I would use the extra meals that I know I won't use, to help my friends eat when they've exhausted their means to. It is absolutely ridiculous that our University doesn't allow us to swipe our friends into the Dining Hall when they no longer have swipes available on their account. If a student purchases a meal plan, they should have the jurisdiction to allow others to benefit from that plan if needed.
That being said, not a single one of PSU's meal plan options allow for Guest passes. When a student brings their friend, significant other, or family member to the Dining Hall throughout the year, they can either pay with FlexCash or pay in cash for that person to eat there. So, even if I have a surplus of meals available on my plan, I am not allowed to swipe my sister into the Dining Hall. Instead, she has to pay out of pocket. Something tells me this plan doesn't have the best interest of the students of PSU in mind.
So what happens now? I think I speak for many of PSU's student body when I say that there should be a reform to the current options in place. PSU is supposed to be an institution that is committed to serving its students. As an institution built upon such strong moral values, you would think the options its students are subjected to would be representative of those same values.
