Rutgers Dining Services expanded their meal plan this past summer by adding a new option – The Scarlet Plan. This new option came just in time for New Brunswick students to choose for the 2018 fall semester. The Scarlet Plan is a completely separate option from the meal swipe plan for students to select.
However, many students do not have a full understanding of what is included in the new meal plan is or what the big deal is all about. Since the last day for students to make any changes to their current meal plan is approaching on September 18th, let’s break down all of these recent additions to the Rutgers meal plan. While some aspects of The Scarlet Plan are similar to the standard meal plan, there are also several differences between the two options.
The Scarlet Plan gives students an unlimited number of meal swipes, allowing students to visit the dining halls as many times as they would like throughout the semester without having to keep track of how many swipes they have left. This is the largest difference from the current meal plan, which limits students to a set number of meal swipes during the semester ranging from 120 to 285.
Both meal plan options allow students to eat at Neilson Dining Hall, Brower Commons, Busch Dining Hall, and Livingston Dining Commons. This specified amount of meal swipes is related to the cost of a student’s meal plan, which is not the case for The Scarlet Plan. This new option costs $2,751 per semester, regardless of how many times a student uses their meal swipes at the dining hall. This price is the same amount as the 285 meal plan.
While students are able to use their meal swipes for each of the dining halls’ takeout options with the standard meal plan, they cannot do so on The Scarlet Plan. Meal swipes on The Scarlet Plan are limited to only the dining halls and students can instead use the Dining Dollars included with The Scarlet Plan to purchase food from takeout. According to Nelson E. Gonzalez, the Assistant Director of Marketing & Communications for Rutgers Dining Services, “The $250 Dining Dollars is included in the overall Scarlet Plan price.”
“With Dining Dollars, the standard takeout meal would be the same as the door price, which varies based on the meal period,” said Gonzalez. “Breakfast would be $8, lunch would $13, and dinner would be $16.50.”
At the beginning of each semester, students will have $250 Dining Dollars on their meal plan to spend at a variety of locations. This includes dining hall takeout and a majority of the café’s in the Cook, Douglass, and Livingston student centers. Also accepting Dining Dollars are Woody’s Café on Busch, Harvest IFNH on Cook, the Starbucks Truck, the Knight Wagon, as well as Henry’s Diner and Kilmer’s Market on Livingston. With the Dining Dollars, there is a $20 limit to how much food students can purchase at one time.
“I don’t think I would switch to it. I would prefer having unlimited dine in and takeout swipes,” stated Bharti Mehta, a sophomore at Rutgers. “$250 seems like a good price if you want to swipe at the Starbucks truck and not waste the whole swipe there. I would have to see how much I spend in non-dining hall swipes to see if $250 is enough,” said Mehta.
Compared to the standard meal swipe plan, students on The Scarlet Plan can no longer use their meal swipes at the locations above and instead pay with their Dining Dollars. The format of the Dining Dollars is similar to how students can use their RU Express account to pay for food at some locations. Although unlike RU Express, students on The Scarlet Plan cannot use their Dining Dollars at select restaurants and stores around campus. Students are also not able to change the amount of their Dining Dollars throughout the semester.
“Any remaining Dining Dollars will expire at the end of each semester. While the amount cannot be increased during the semester, we suggest students add money to RU Express should they run out of Dining Dollars,” stated Gonzalez.
There are some similarities between the original meal plan and The Scarlet Plan. For example, any leftover meal swipes on the standard meal plan expire and cannot be used during the following semester. On The Scarlet Plan, any Dining Dollars not used cannot transfer over to another semester even though there is no limit on meal swipes used. These two meal plans include ten guest swipes, which can be used at the dining halls for both options. Students can also use their RU Express account regardless of their meal plan option.
“Any student (or any member of the Rutgers community with a NetID) can add money to their RU Express account. A student’s meal plan choice does not change their ability to utilize their RU Express account,” said Gonzalez.
Every Rutgers student can decide whether they want to purchase a meal plan, regardless of whether they live on campus, off campus, or commute. Both The Scarlet Plan and the meal swipe plan are open to all students. “Any student has the ability to purchase one of our meal plans,” said Gonzalez.
However, not every Rutgers New Brunswick student is impressed with these new features included in The Scarlet Plan.
“So, my friends didn’t really understand it, or me [sic],” stated Rutgers sophomore Krupal Patel. “Also, $250 for [an] outside of dining hall expense seems like too much and you’ll be forced to spend all that money. It reduces the freedom you have.”
Choosing which meal plan to purchase for the semester is a decision that is entirely up to each individual student to make. Since The Scarlet Plan includes unlimited meal swipes at each of the four dining halls here at Rutgers and a set amount of money to spend elsewhere, this plan may be suited for a student who frequents the dining halls more than any other venue in New Brunswick. The last day for students to make any changes to their current meal plan is approaching soon, so students who plan on switching over to The Scarlet Plan better act fast.