With the rise in tuition for the upcoming school year, Milligan students are seeking ways to cut costs in the most effective ways possible. While one of the major costs at Milligan is room and board, administrators say they don’t have plans to change the room and board policies.

 

Milligan College is a residential community, so the majority of undergraduates live on campus. Jacqui Steadman, vice president for business and finance, believes it boosts the community experience at Milligan.

 

“This issue has been raised by the students and discussed by administration over the years, but we strongly believe in the community experience and the benefit to first and second year students by having upperclassmen in dorms and in the cafeteria,” said Steadman. “Our housing costs are lower than many institutions even with the recent increases.  We strive to keep housing affordable for all students.”

 

Freshman Bethany Witherspoon decided to write a paper for her Composition 211 class on the dissatisfaction she noticed from students about the meal plan. For her paper, she created a survey and sent it out to the student body to gauge the satisfaction level.

 

“Something that I did not find surprising in my survey was the extreme dissatisfaction with the amount of options that the cafeteria provides us with. 49 percent  of student residents (that took the quiz) are not satisfied with the variety of options as well as 23 percent being extremely unsatisfied,” said Witherspoon.

 

Steadman noted  the meal plan is required, but added that the administration’s goal is to keep the prices at a reasonable level to help students as much as possible.

 

“Yes, the meal plan is currently required for students who live in the dorms.  We have had minimal increases in meal plan charges to help keep this cost reasonable for students,” said Steadman. “Other schools recognize the value of residential students eating together; as you may recall, ETSU recently announced required board plans for their residential students.”