From tuition to housing, to health service fees, nothing at The New School comes cheap. This includes the food prices. With New York being such an expensive city, students hope that the school could cut them a break. But that’s not the case.

The New School is one of the only colleges without a built-in meal plan.

Students are particularly hurt during exam week when they are basically living on campus and are forced to eat at the cafés. The New School makes it very difficult for students with or without a meal plan to afford meals.

The lowest price for a sandwich at Lang Café is now $5.49. Even though we are very lucky to have our own sushi bar and an in-house chef at Lang, the prices are simply too high compared to NYU.

NYU students are required to have 10 meals per week. This means that not only they can have 10 unlimited meals in their five dining halls, but they also eat at places that accept their NYU ID card. That includes almost all restaurants in Union Square and Washington Square Park. These prices are built into their tuition so they don’t have to add it in cash, like New School students.

If a student buys a fruit cup at $3.99 for breakfast and then a sandwich at lunch at $5.49, his or her weekly total would be up to $47.40, pretty hefty for working students.

On top of that is the sushi. The prices range from $6.24 to a whopping $14.24, which is higher than prices at most local sushi restaurants.

The meal plan really isn’t much help. Even students who live on campus don’t have the best meal options. Their Dining Dollars are not built into their tuition, so their price is added on to their bill just like students who don’t live in dorms. The New School meal card is basically just like having cash on a card, with The New School providing no discount.

The Off-Campus Merchant program is just as inadequate. It allows students to use their NewCard as a debit card at local restaurants, but these restaurants are pretty expensive to begin with.

Is The New School just giving students more bang for their buck? The New School uses only recyclable cups, napkins, silverware, and sells organic and local food. It really is the great debate: healthy food or low prices. At The New School, healthy food triumphs. However, there’s no denying that perhaps we could find a happy medium. NYU seems to have it figured out.