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Experienced parents : I am looking at the cost line - ups of my D's choices and I am very confused . Are meal plans included in room & board ???? Or is this one the extras I have to steel myself for ????

By Digmedia (Digmedia) on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 02:08 pm: Edit

The very definition of "board" (American Heritage Dictionary) is "to furnish with meals in return for pay." So I would assume so. Check on the website.

By Choff (Choff) on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 02:46 pm: Edit

From what I've seen, not a lot of schools, but still a few, meal plans are not part of the boarding. Now days, I think most places have a choice of type of meal plans, how many a week, extra dollars, like a debit card, to use at other times, etc. I do think most place, however, require students in residence halls to have some sort of meal plan (want to make sure they at least eat some). Do, check for each school.

By Massdad (Massdad) on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 04:38 pm: Edit

My observation, after visiting a lot of U web sites, is that most schools now quote the room charge separate from the meal charge, so read the fine print and look at all the links in the housing section of the web site.
OTOH, the cost estimators that most admissions home pages link to include both charges, hence the term room and board.

By Hautbois (Hautbois) on Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 12:46 am: Edit

First of all ... not a dumb question at all!

Our d's school housing price online includes a meal plan with it. When signing up the students may then choose from different meal plans so the cost at the site is an estimate.