Pioneer College Caterers increased the prices for its student meal plans yet again this fall, marking at least four consecutive years of price hikes.

The Sojourn reported in October 2010 that the majority of residential students at Indiana Wesleyan University pay significantly more per-meal than the posted cash prices for the same products.

Unmarried freshmen, sophomores and juniors under age 23 must live on-campus if they do not reside with their parents or legal guardians. Circumstances warranting an exception to this rule “must be financial or personal distress of the magnitude that would clearly jeopardize continued enrollment at IWU,” according to the housing exemption application packet provided by the student-development office. Additionally, the university requires that each student resident purchase a full meal plan.

Incoming freshmen must pay $1,845 for a full meal plan this fall, according to figures released by IWU’s business office. This translates to paying $6.15 per meal for those with the 23-Meal plan, $8.73 per meal for students who selected the Block-200 plan and $10.47 per meal under the Block-150 plan.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner in the Baldwin dining hall cost only $5, $6 and $7, respectively, for those who pay with cash. Menu prices for meals purchased a la carte in Wildcat Express or at Mario’s pizzeria (consisting of one entree, two sides and one drink) do not exceed $7.72.

Students who chose the 23-Meal plan are not allowed to use more than one meal per mealtime and lose any unused meals at the en  d of the semester. The Sojourn’s per-meal calculation assumes students with the 23-Meal plan use 300 meals over the course of the semester.

The Block-200 plan includes 200 meals and $100 in “points.” The Block-150 plan includes 150 meals and $275 in points. These two meal plans are the most popular among all student s, with 94 percent of students purchasing one or the other in the fall of 2010, according to Melissa Sprock, director of housing.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes the Consumer Price Index which measures, among other things, the relative cost of basic commodities in relation to the purchasing power of the dollar domestically. According to CPI data, food and beverage prices increased an average 3.6 percent each year between July 2007 and July 2011 in Midwest towns with fewer than 50,000 residents. Meal plan prices for IWU students increased an average 2.9 percent annually over the same four-year time frame.

The disparity between meal plan prices and cash prices continues to create, however, a false perception among prospective students, and all campus visitors, that IWU residents pay roughly the same amount for their food as the prices listed on the menus.