The quality of food on a college campus does not necessarily reflect the quality of the education, but it still is a major factor that plays into student life! And it’s no coincidence that some of the most highly selective colleges and universities out there also happen to have the most highly selective dining options. Which schools made our top ten list for best food? Let’s take a look:

A Ranking of Colleges with the Best Food

Best Colleges For Food	Ivy Coach Ranking
Bates College	10
Wesleyan University	9
Vanderbilt University	8
Yale University	7
Columbia University	6
Washington University in St. Louis	5
University of California — Los Angeles	4
Duke University	3
Cornell University	2
Bowdoin College	1

A Breakdown of the Colleges with the Best Campus Food

Every school on this list is renowned for campus dining, but one school stands out from the rest for the exquisite culinary experience it provides for its hungry student body. Bowdoin College’s reputation for amazing food is featured in higher education publications every year. However, it’s not just Ivy Coach that has taken notice! In a 2016 episode of Malcom Gladwell’s Revisionist History podcast, Bowdoin’s practically Michelin-starred dining halls are praised by students being interviewed as healthy, tasty, and diverse. However, Mr. Gladwell is not one to present a positive situation without a twist!

Bowdoin’s food is the best in the nation, but at what cost? According to Mr. Gladwell, it comes with a major tradeoff: every dollar spent on fresh produce and exotic meats cannot be spent on the financial aid necessary to make Bowdoin accessible to lower-income students. Mr. Gladwell contrasts Bowdoin with Vassar, an equally-reputable private liberal arts college with notoriously bad food, where the money that could otherwise go into improving the dining experience is spent on its very robust financial aid program. The kids at Vassar interviewed on the podcast can’t speak very highly of the “soggy pizza” and “laxative”-inducing cold cut selection, but at least they have pride for the socioeconomic diversity they see all around them on campus.

Good Food, Affordability, and Elite Reputation — Can a College Have it All?

We get it, food is very important. No matter where you wind up, it’s important that you can cultivate a life for yourself that brings you happiness. There’s no shame in wanting to eat well during your four years of undergraduate education. Every school on this list brings great food and a stellar education to the table, but Mr. Gladwell is not wrong for pointing out that some of these schools cut back on other services in order to fill students’ bellies with impeccable eats.

We at Ivy Coach are happy to share the news that this tradeoff between good food and affordability is not true of every college out there. Many of the schools on this list, including Yale, Columbia, and Cornell, are famed for their mouth-watering fare and accessibility to low-income students. How do these schools have it all? They thrive off of the returns of their immense endowments. Mr. Gladwell cites how Ivy League schools are able to invest in campus infrastructure and student quality of life without compromising on affordability due to the incredibly profitable nature of their multi-billion dollar endowments. That is why we of course encourage our clients to accept their offers of admission from Ivy League schools — very few schools out there bring nearly everything to the table, but those in the Ivy League certainly do. That’s what makes it the Ivy League!

This is true of every school in the Ivy League, but Yale, Columbia, and Cornell particularly excel with food. In fact, Cornell’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration turns out some of the top food and hospitality professionals in the world, accounting for their high ranking just shy of Bowdoin. Other strong options for an elite education that don’t skimp on dining include Bates, Wesleyan, Vanderbilt, Washington University, UCLA, and Duke.