STUDENTS SHOULD HAVE UNLIMITED MEAL SWIPES

By: Gray Edelstein, Opinion Columnist

While in college, students juggle academic pressure, living on their own for the first time and managing their time. Adapting to a new environment and schedule is difficult enough, and there is one question that makes it even more daunting.

“Do I have enough meal swipes left?” 

Many NIU students are currently on the Huskie Block plan, which gives students 12 meal swipes per week, resetting on Sundays. This comes at no additional cost to housing when living on campus. NIU does offer a 15 block plan for $100 more and 19 block plan for an additional $200.

The math is simple: 12 meal swipes is not enough to cover breakfast, lunch and dinner for an entire week. In order for a student to eat three meals a day, it would take 21 meal swipes. 

By adopting unlimited swipes, students would not have to pay more to receive the minimum care. 

Food insecurity is a growing issue on college campuses across the country. Limiting access to meals doesn’t just affect nutrition — it affects focus, mental health and academic performance. 

There is a possibility of unlimited meal swipes being abused, but by removing the urgency to get “your money’s worth” every time, students can eat when they are hungry, not when the plan allows.

Offering unlimited swipes also sends a powerful message: That NIU values its students, not just tuition payments. Other top-tier universities already offer these plans, understanding that a well fed student and mind performs better, stays healthier and feels more connected to campus life.

Unlimited swipes are a meaningful, practical step toward making NIU a more supportive and inclusive institution. When students don’t have to count meals, they can focus on what truly matters: Learning, growing and thriving.

STUDENTS SHOULD NOT HAVE UNLIMITED MEAL SWIPES

By: Habiba Kamel, Opinion Columnist

Meal swipes are a privilege given to students when they enroll at their colleges. At NIU, students are given the option of 12, 15 or 19 meal swipes per week. However, an increase in meal swipes equals an increase in prices. 

At other colleges, like Harvard University, students have unlimited meal swipes. With that being said, many students here on campus believe we should have this option as well; however, there are limitations for many reasons. 

There are over 4,000 students living on campus at NIU this year. That means there are 4,000 mouths to feed multiple times a day. This is not an easy penny. Between the three campus dining options, NIU has to provide food at all of these locations while paying all the faculty that operate these dining halls. If students were allowed to eat whenever they want and as many times as they want, NIU would have to spend more money to provide for their students. This would be difficult and impact the university negatively as they would have to take money out of other areas in order to properly fund unlimited meal swipes. 

Additionally, unlimited meal swipes would be a waste of food. Already, many college students grab food and do not eat everything on their plate. This results in a consequential amount of food being thrown out. If students were given the option to eat whenever they want, they would go to the dining hall more often, which could cause more food to be thrown out. This is not only a waste of money for NIU, but is also harmful toward the environment because throwing food out contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

Overall, a limit on meal swipes exists for a reason. Unlimited meal swipes is the equivalent of wasting thousands of dollars of food. By restricting the amount of swipes a student uses, they learn the value and cost of food.