College Food Rankings

I often wonder if any high school seniors apply to certain colleges because of the great food those schools serve. Conversely, I also ponder whether or not anyone chooses not to apply to a college because the food is reported to be substandard.

That's an an interesting selection criterion. It may also be related to the so-called “Freshman 10" (or 15, or maybe even 20!), but that's another story.

I've written before about collegiate food quality, but thought it time to review the current “rankings." Yes, something as subjective as food can be ranked, probably because some college food can be called rank.

Of course, no blog post of mine would be complete without an insipidly boring retrospective of (turn on the echo machine for another exciting episode of) How It Was When I Went To College. As all my devoted readers know, I attended two institutions of higher learning before nailing down (some have said “cobbling together") my degree.

I spent my freshman year at a small liberal arts college in central Pennsylvania. At the end of that year, I couldn't decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. So, rather than waste further time and money, allowing my grades to plummet due to my unsettled focus, and possibly get drafted into the military and sent to Vietnam, I withdrew and joined the Navy to avoid the draft. My strategy and budding sailor career promptly took me to Vietnam … twice. You gotta love it when a plan comes together.

Anyway, after my sailing days (daze?) ended, I transferred to Penn State University, which was at the opposite end of the spectrum from my little liberal arts school. So, I've seen both types of higher-learning environments: small colleges and huge universities.

What did I notice about the food back then? Well, it was certainly nothing like it is today. Maybe that's because I wasn't paying every year as much as a new Corvette costs these days. Food rankings did not exist and students weren't looking for or even sometimes demandingepicurean perks. We were just happy to have a hot dog or a piece of pizza.

The one thing that stands out in my memory of freshman year is the name of the guy who was head of food services at our little college: Mr. Bloodgood. Yikes. We used to conjure images of him working in the kitchen preparing meals. Those imaginations were less than appetizing. Maybe that's why I spent so much time school evenings at Hilltop Sub Shop. I've written about that here too. The HSS is where my lifelong affair with mayonnaise began. Maybe I'll write about that some day (I'll give you advance warning).

After my time at Penn State, I was able to deduce a rough theory about colleges and their food. It appeared to me, from my micro-sample, that the smaller the school, the better the food. That is, there seemed to be an inverse relationship between food quality and school size: smaller = better; bigger = less good.

And that brings me to Best College Food. “The 2016 Best College Food ranking is based on meal plan costs and student reviews. Top ranked colleges offer outstanding on-campus dining – students can easily access healthy, quality food across a wide range of cuisines and dietary preferences."

Of course, noting the high level of subjectivity associated with judging food, you may be wondering how these experts went about creating their rankings. Here's a peek into the rationale:

The Best College Food ranking provides a comprehensive assessment of the quality and cost of on-campus dining options. This grade takes into account key factors such as average meal plan cost and student reviews in an attempt to measure the caliber of and student satisfaction with campus food options.

1713 Colleges Assessed

At the time of analysis, our database contained records for 1,713 public and private, traditional four-year colleges and universities across the United States. For the purposes of this ranking, a “traditional" college is considered to be any accredited, non-profit post-secondary institution that primarily offers four-year degree programs (as opposed to two-year or less). Some colleges were not included in this ranking if: (1) they were not located in one of the 50 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia; (2) they had fewer than 100 full-time undergraduate students; or (3) they had insufficient data (see below). Of the colleges that met the required qualifications, we were able to grade 1,378 and rank 1,071 …

Factors Considered

Statistics obtained from the U.S. Department of Education represent the most recent data available, usually from either 2013–2014 or 2014–2015, as self-reported by the colleges.

Without further ado, then, let's take a look at at the 2016 Top-10 food schools. along with some supporting details.

10. Skidmore College

9. Cornell University

8. University of Georgia

7. Gustavus Adolphus College

6. California Baptist University

5. James Madison University

4. Bowdoin College

3. University of Massachusetts – Amherst

2. Washington University in St. Louis

1. Virginia Tech

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Looking back over the Top 10 here rather puts the kibosh to my smaller-is-better theory. However, you can check out the complete list, which is ten times longer than the above Top 10. You can also search by state and each school has a link for more details.

Penn State, by the way, comes in at #62. I think that's appropriate. I didn't see Mr. Bloodgood's school listed, so I can't tell if his efforts made a long-term difference (Dave said humorously).

So, ask your stomach where it would like to spend its next four years (or more). Then, go with your gut, so to speak.

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