The Best College Food Methodology
The Best College Food ranking is based on meal plan costs and student reviews. Top-ranked colleges offer outstanding on-campus dining—students can easily access healthy, quality food across a wide range of cuisines and dietary preferences. Learn where our data comes from.
Factors Considered
| Factor | Description | Source | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Student Surveys on Campus Dining | Student opinions about the quality of the campus food at the college they currently or recently attend(ed). | Self-reported by Niche users | 85.0% |
| Average Meal Plan Cost | Average cost of meal plan, as reported by the college. | U.S. Dept. of Education | 15.0% |
The same methodology is used to produce the Niche Campus Food Grade for each ranked school as well as additional 4-year colleges. Statistics obtained from the U.S. Department of Education represent the most recent data available, as self-reported by the colleges.
For more details about how we calculate our rankings, click here. If you work for a school and would like to update your data, please claim your school.