Required Meal Plans
For many large universities, such as the University of Alabama network, dining plans are a requirement for students attending half time (6 credit hours) or more each semester. In 2007, UAB (University of Alabama in Birmingham) required all students taking more than 1 class a semester (1 class = 3 credit hours) to participate in a dining plan with a minimum of $300 per semester. In theory, the program was a good one and was created out of concern that some students may not be eating regularly due to financial strain. The currency on their student ID (UAB’s known as Blazer Bucks) was accepted at any eatery establishment on campus and even at select eateries just off campus.
The Blazer Bucks were renewed every semester a student enrolled half time or more and was non-negotiable as to its amount, unless you wanted to add MORE to the card. Students were told to use the card as much as possible because at the end of the semester, any remaining funds would be erased to prevent roll-overs resulting in large amounts of money in the students’ accounts. UAB also advertised that students should eat as much as they could at a campus eatery known as “The Commons on the Green,” a glorified cafeteria located just a few blocks from the main student services building and on the edge of a grassy area that had once been a much needed parking deck. The students were often told that the best bang for their dollar could be found at the Commons and that there was plenty seating, although there never really was. After hours, students could go to the diner located on the second floor of the Commons to pick up food that was ordered earlier for dinner or as a late night snack.
The Blazer Bucks were locked to being used only for food at select locations and could not be used in any other way. Even at the end of the semester, when students attempted to clear out any debts built up at the campus, UAB refused to allow the students to take their unused Blazer Bucks to apply towards those debts, even though the remaining money in the program was set to expire in a matter of days, thus wasting the financial aid that was used to activate and fill the card in the first place. With nothing but mounting debt staring students in the face, the real reasoning behind the Blazer Bucks program was exposed as it truly was, another way to get more money out of students that were already struggling to make college happen. Perhaps even more brazen was how one could say that the schools were attempting to get more money from the federal government since many of the students use Pell Grants and federal student loans to pay for college in the first place.
