This year, students living in New College residence are paying more for meal plans but receiving less, following the introduction of the new Access Plan, which uses an All-You-Care-To-Eat (AYCTE) model. The Access Plan offers three tiers, each costing at least $125 more than last year’s plans. The current plans also include $50 in TBucks, which is half of last year’s $100 amount.

At every tier, dining dollars, which can be used at multiple restaurants across campus, have been decreased by over $5,000. This money can now only be used at the dining hall, in the form of entry swipes. Students are limited to 10 and 14 visits a week for the two lowest tiers of the plan. 

The meal plan, which is mandatory for all New College residents, was previously a declining balance model, where students paid for each food item individually. To learn how students feel about the change, The Varsity spoke with residents who lived at New College under the old model.

Restricted swipes, Dining Dollars, and take-out

Under the Access Meal Plan, residents pay for swipes to enter the New College Audrey Taylor Dining Hall, regardless of how much they eat. 

The $7,625 Unlimited Access plan offers unlimited swipes. The next two cheapest plans are Access 14 which provides 14 weekly visits for $6,925, and Access 10, which offers 10 weekly visits for $6,425. Entry swipes reset every Sunday and do not carry over to the following week. 

In an interview with The Varsity, third-year New College resident and biochemistry student Cameron Kroll criticized the Access 10 plan, “10 meals a week — people can’t survive on that… It’s irresponsible to offer that as an option.” 

Kroll also expressed frustration about the reset policy: “[Swipes] reset each week… I’m not here over reading week — doesn’t matter. I’m still paying for those meals. They don’t carry over.” 

Students can also purchase food and beverages with Dining Dollars at participating locations such as Robarts Library, Sid’s, and the Medical Sciences Building. Since last year, Dining Dollars for the cheapest plan have dropped from $6,020 to $400, while the most expensive plans fell from $7,080 to $700. 

Yida Li, a fourth-year biochemistry student living in New College residence, said, “In the past, we would have $5,000 or $6,000 Dining Dollars a year, and we could use it everywhere in the school… I can still use the dining dollars everywhere, but the amount is very limited.”

Some students argue that the AYCTE branding of the Access Plan does not live up to its promise.

“In theory, it’s all you can eat,” said Kroll, “But if I decide that I would like extra meat on my sandwich, they aren’t going to give me extra meat. They control what you eat. If I wanted to have extra meat on my sandwich, I would have to go, get two sandwiches, throw out all but the meat from one, and combine.”

Lily Lee, a fifth-year resident, expressed mixed feelings about the change in an email to The Varsity, “I’m glad for this change… [but] with the AYCTE model, they’ve significantly scaled back variety, which generally isn’t good for dietary restrictions.” 

Another major complaint among students is the shift to a limited take-out option. According to the New College Residence Access Meal Plan Terms and Conditions, students are limited to three take-out passes per week. 

“I got yelled at for taking a bagel and a thing of fries out of the dining hall to eat in my room,” said Kroll.

Li added, “Sometimes, for example, I’m in an exam period. I prefer to eat in my dorm so I need to take [my meals] away. This year I can only do take-out three times a week.”

In an email to The Varsity, former Chestnut Residence Don Stephanie Gyimah said, “The dons pushed strongly for UofT to reconsider the meal plan system… Of course, the push was met with significant contention.”

“It seems as though the same issues that plagued the pay-per-weight system continue to plague [AYCTE],” Gyimah added. “Students are still expected to ration their food and the vulnerability of students does not seem like it’s been properly taken into account.”

In a statement sent to The Varsity, a university spokesperson wrote, “The meal plans offered at New College are new this year. Meal plans were created in consultation with students and New College stakeholders. Meal plan options and policies are communicated to students prior to the residence application process,” and that, “the university does not receive funding from government or any other sources for its food services, which operate on a cost-recovery basis and not for profit.” 

In 2020, Chestnut and New College residents boycotted the dining hall after the introduction of the declining balance model, fearing that students would run out of funds too early. At the time, the New College Council advocated reverting to a model similar to AYCTE, but without the limited swipes. In 2023, a pay-by-weight model was implemented in all dining halls on St. George Campus operated by Food Services. 

Correction: This article has been corrected to reflect that the quote in the headline is not referring to the unlimited tier of the New College meal plan, and that most of the money previously used for Dining Dollars is now used for swipes to enter the dining hall.