Like…why. The school is basically forcing students to eat outside.
Although it is a mandatory charge, the student can choose to not spend the dining dollars and have that money refunded.
This is the university’s take on dining dollars
"All undergraduate students enrolled in 9 credit hours or more on campus will participate in the Dining Dollars program. The Dining Dollars fee of $325 is charged to the student account automatically when the 9 credit hour criteria is met in the Fall and Spring semesters. A $100 Dining Dollars fee is also charged during the Summer semester when undergraduate students are enrolled in 5 credit hours or more. Just like the meal plan, Dining Dollars is an account on the Action Card.
The Dining Dollars program is designed to supplement a student’s campus dining needs. The $325 Dining Dollars equals about $19.12 per week or $2.73 per day. Dining Dollars can be used at all Bama Dining locations, Smoothie King at the Rec Center, most on-campus vending machines, all Tuscaloosa area Domino’s locations, and Buffalo Phil’s.
Unused Dining Dollars roll from fall to spring semester. At the end of the spring semester, students may request a refund of remaining Dining Dollar Funds. If a refund is not requested, the remaining funds are transferred to the student’s Bama Cash account."
If you are disciplined, you can use ZERO of this and get it all refunded. You will find that most universities have something similar.
You aren’t force to spend them. If you don’t spend them, you’ll get the money back at the end of the year.
I believe that the purpose of the mandatory Dining Dollars is to guarantee the food service company (Aramark?) some minimum level of sales. I would guess that’s part of the reason for the required freshman meal plan, as well. It is mandatory that you buy the Dining Dollars, but not mandatory that you use them. My daughter has had the vast majority of her Dining Dollars roll into Bama Cash and get refunded at the end of each of the last 4 years.
My experience with dining dollars is my UA students were refunded most of it when they had a dining plan. When they no longer had a plan, we figured this amount would be used for lunch, etc. which they were on campus and it definitely was. Since this is a student family choice, I have no problem with the requirement.
oh no, I am thinking my D could go thru $325 at Smoothie King pretty quickly…LOLOL
Dining Dollars may be used at a number of restaurants and food places off campus and NOT owned by Aramark. There are several mealtimes during the week (mostly weekends) when there is NO food service. That’s what Dining Dollars is meant to cover.