Long Lines, Limited Choices Plague CU Boulder's Meal Plan For Students
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4)- Students enrolled in the meal plan at the University of Colorado Boulder are having a tough time finding healthy choices, if they can even redeem their meals at all. CU Boulder said it has had to make changes due to the coronavirus pandemic, but didn't make changes to its meal plan requirement.
Some of those changes are not sitting well with some students and their parents.
When Brian Sherman's daughter decided she was going to enroll in CU Boulder, it wasn't just an exciting milestone, it was tradition.
"I'm a proud alumni and she followed in my footsteps. Her brother and cousins and her mother went there as well, it's kind of the family school," said Sherman.
They knew with coronavirus to expect some changes with living on campus. But what they encountered with the dining plan was not something they anticipated.
"The menus are all the same, every day. And if they do get a salad, it's a side salad," said Sherman. "Kids were waiting up to an our in line."
Sherman said the school touted the number of dining spaces open to students, along with a healthy variety of choices. Images from students show the food is not exactly as advertised.
CBS4 asked some students on the CU Boulder campus what they thought and while some say the food is tasty, there are few places to redeem the meal plan.
"Standing in the lines is really frustrating, especially on the weekends when there is only really one place that's open and everyone congregates to that place. It really sucks, to be honest," said one student.
Others seem to be taking the changes in stride, but admit it's not what they were sold on. 
"The dining halls... I thought certain things would be offered. I would definitely say they are not offering as much as they normally would," said another student.
For Sherman, much of his daughter's meal plan, which is 15 meals a week, goes unused.
"She's eating off campus," said Sherman. "In essence, we are having to pay more for food than we would have normally paid."
His hope is that with the changes to dining, the school would have made changes to the meal plan as well.
"They could have reduced the number of meals you have to use or pay-as-you-go or eliminate the requirement to eat on campus while they are having these issues," said Sherman.
