The Issue

If you spend a lot of time on the south side of campus, or you have a hectic lunchtime schedule, it can be difficult to find options in terms of lunch.

All the food courts are mostly confined to the north and west sides of campus, as the map to the left shows (dining courts are highlighted in red and On the Go locations are outlined in blue).The only dining option on the south side is the Union. While the food court in the Union offers a wide variety of choices, the problem comes with paying for them.

You could use your credit or debit card, but small things like meals add up. Nellie Mae reports that the average amount of credit card debt held by college graduates is $2,700, so the last thing you want to do is add to that potential debt by purchasing every lunch with a credit card.

Then comes the option of dining dollars. With the purchase of a meal plan, there's a set amount of dining dollars that can be used per semester. That amount varies by which meal plan you purchase.

However, dining dollars are capped at $25. This poses a problem for those who eat lunch on the south side of campus. While many people would like to use their dining dollars, many can't because they've reached the limit for the semester. Those without dining dollars are left with few options.