ACU Food Services is unveiling an improved meal plan program that we think will give students more Bean for their buck.

With the new program, the Bean will be open between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. on weekdays and have extended hours on the weekend. These new hours  will give students more options for eating and allow students to fit eating into their schedules instead of fitting their schedules around dining hours.

The new plan also gives students an unlimited number of Bean trips per day. Instead of swiping for meals, students can enter the bean multiple times a day for as may days as their plan allows. Again, this modification gives students more flexibility with their dining eliminating the need to “save up” meals for certain times later in the week. It also might curb the urge to eat as much food as possible per trip to the Bean.

The only downside to the new plan is that ACU Food Services will only accept meal plans in the Bean, while other on-campus eateries will only accept those precious Bean Bucks. Some students might find this as an annoyance, but the new plan makes up for this change by providing more Bean Bucks per semester, allowing students to continue enjoying places like the Fatted Café and Einstein Bros. Bagels.

The price for all the modifications per student is around $2,300 for the semester for underclassmen – a steep price, but relatively comparable to this semester’s Plan A and Plan B. Of course we’d like to see lower prices for on-campus dining, but we realize only so much can be done, and we appreciate the fact that at least prices won’t rise too sharply.

Anthony Williams, chief business services officer, said he and others in dining services are looking into enhancing and changing some food court locations. However, they are still looking at data and student input before making a decision – and it appears they really have listened to students.

It seems like the new plan is the perfect compromise between reasonable hours and large amounts of food. The price may be high, but the unlimited access to the Bean could make everything worth it.