In addition, Harvard administrators say they fear a variable meal plan may add a class bias to the food system.

"I like the simplicity of the Harvard plan," says Epps. "Students always have the option of eating and it does not make distinctions based on what they can afford."

More Informed Consumers

But Clark E. DeHaven, executive director of the National Association of College and University Food Services, says today's average student is a more informed consumer. He adds that there is a national trend in college dining services toward offering students more choice.

"More students are expressing an interest in what they are eating and where their money is going. More and more are saying, `charge me for what I eat,'" says DeHaven:

As a result, many colleges are offering students more flexibility in terms of board plans as well as scheduled meal hours, dining locations, and different menus.

"Students want choices and they're used to choice. It helps their satisfaction level," says Lois J. Ohms, assistant manager of food services at Stanford.

While most schools have variable plans, only Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania give students a choice about whether to be on a meal plan at all.

"I want students on our meal plan who want to be our customers," says William J. Canney, director of dining services at Penn. Dining halls there feature sundaes, frozen yogurt and milkshakes every night. Sandwiches are made to order and whole meats sliced to order.

Lobster Dinners?

Many schools which require students to purchase a meal plan offer what is known as a point system. In this system, students buy a number of points at the beginning of a semester and use these points as money to buy meals. After each meal, a certain number of points are deducted from the student's balance.

Under this "declining balance system," points are deducted either for each item purchased in a-la-carte fashion or for an entire all-you-can-eat meal, depending on the dining hall and the college.

Columbia, Dartmouth, MIT and the University of Vermont (UVM) are among many colleges that offer this system to their students. Officials at these colleges find that most students prefer the point system to the traditional board plan.

Many administrators, however, have also experienced problems with the point system. Some find that first-year students unaccustomed to the idea end up spending all their points and are forced to buy more.

Tufts Dining Services say they experienced a significant decrease in revenue. And officials at MIT are concerned that fewer students are using their points in resident dining halls and more are eating at the student center.