Transylvania University is an incredible place to learn, find and explore passions and interests, and make friends. If I had to do my college search over I would still choose to attend school at Transy, I love my major and its faculty, but also all the other wonderful faculty members I have met in my GE classes. I've been given opportunities here that I would not have been given anywhere else and my professors and peers always push me to better myself. However, going to Transy was nowhere near my cheapest option compared to a few other schools I applied for. I do not mind spending this extra money on my academic career because I am already beginning to see the payoff. However, what I do mind spending the extra money on is housing and a meal plan.

All students who live on campus are required to purchase a meal plan, which is understandable because we have minimal resources to cook living in a resident hall, where pretty much anything but a microwave and coffee maker is prohibited. However, the only students that are allowed to live off campus are those of senior status or those who are 21 years or older. Each year Transy students pay about $4,000 for a meal plan. If you do the math, we are in school from September through May (9 months), subtract a month for breaks and we're approximately in school for about 8 months, which is around 32 weeks. Divide 4,000 by 32 and you get 125. $125 a month is not a terrible amount of money to spend on food, but considering many students also have groceries in their rooms and eat out at least once a week, we are spending a pretty good amount of money on food.

However, this food that we are spending money on is usually pretty low quality. Most options are not fresh and/or healthy. Our late night options include a list of greasy flatbreads that aren't really flatbreads, but thin tortilla shell-like crusts, not really the type of food that should be eaten late at night. There are a few healthier options like pre-made sandwiches and wraps, which are usually soggy by the time they are purchased, and fruit cups with either grapes and cheese cubes or an assortment of melons. The Caf sometimes will have good food, but when it does it usually is something pretty unhealthy. Not to mention the Caf's lack of choices for students who are vegan or vegetarian, whose options are usually three small dishes generally consisting of rice or tofu. The salad bar is not always too lacking, but when it comes to the students' selection of fruit we occasionally have pineapple and melon and a mixture of canned fruit. Not once have I seen a berry, watermelon, grapefruit, peach, or any of the other fruits that many people like to eat. Instead of fresh fruits and vegetables, students gravitate towards the more calorie-dense, but nutrient-lacking foods like ice cream, pasta, and potatoes.

In addition to the mandatory meal plan students that live on campus are required to purchase, housing, at its cheapest, is about $8,000 a year, nearly $900 per month. For this price I could live in a pretty nice apartment in Lexington, complete with a kitchen and utilities. (If you don't believe me here are some examples.) Currently I live in a suite style room with a roommate and we share a bathroom with two other suite mates. I don't mind living with all these people, I actually prefer it. But, I would enjoy living with these three girls more if we had more space, a kitchen, and laundry we didn't have to pay for in quarters. My $900 a month could be going to a much nicer, cleaner, and spacious living area.

I'm not trying to put down Transy with this article, as I mentioned in the beginning I love attending school here. But, I do not believe their housing and meal plan policies are fair. If you're going to charge students so much to live on campus and to have a meal plan, you must give them the option to also live off campus more than just their senior year. Transy is in the process of building new residence halls, but they will be more expensive per year for students and even if they are equipped with kitchens, students will still be required to purchase meal plans. We are paying for a high quality education, which I can attest to receiving. However, we are also paying for high quality housing and food, which I can attest to not receiving.