Food a major consideration when choosing a college

Colleges spend millions of dollars each year updating their dorms, modernizing their sports facilities, and hosting spring fling weekends in an effort to attract the next round of college-bound students to their campuses.

But what about their food?

As young people are becoming more and more health conscious, they are paying serious attention to the cafeteria and food court options that will be nourishing them for three meals a day for four key years of their life.

For an increasing number of students with dietary restrictions, food is a serious matter. Whether their diet is vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free or kosher, the options offered by on-campus dining halls are influential in determining whether attending a particular college is a viable option. Other students, without dietary restrictions, are concerned with the variety of appealing menu options and the opportunity to use their Campus Cash at local restaurants off-campus. Colleges across the country are starting to take note of student eating preferences!

Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, offers the best food of any college in the country, according to The Daily Meal, which ranks college food on a number of criteria, including the cleanliness and accessibility of dining halls, menu options, food quality and overall dining experience. It also considers a school’s “X-factor” — the unique offerings that distinguish a particular college.

Bowdoin, for example, is known for the lobster bake that is enjoyed by graduating seniors. It’s also known for regular menu options that include mussels in butter sauce, haddock with jalapenos, squash fettuccine, and roasted root vegetables with polenta.

Other colleges have their own X-factor. Princeton University is praised for its “Lunch-to-Go” program that allows students to pre-order bagged lunches to be picked up at a choice of locations on campus. Duke University takes convenience a step further. Students who don’t want to get out of bed can order a meal to be delivered right to their dorm from any of 17 eateries on campus.