Universities with the Best Campus Food

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The way to a student’s heart is through her stomach, so making the Best Campus Food list is always good news. While some college dining halls unabashedly make lunchtime sandwiches out of last night’s leftovers, fine dining can be nothing short of expected at others.

Looking at the past six years of Princeton Review Best Campus Food rankings, you’ll see that of the 38 schools listed, 9 are listed all six years. Of them, Bowdoin College, James Madison University, and Virginia Tech are consistently in the top six. Interestingly, all three are also listed, at least once in the last six years, as having the Princeton Review’s Happiest Students.

The rankings are created with students’ answers to the survey question: “How do you rate the food on campus?” Though answers to a volunteer survey may not seem like the surest way to find the best college food, a New York Times article from back in 1988, before the Princeton Review started these rankings, applauds the quality of Bowdoin’s food, suggesting that among the more consistently ranked schools, there is some long-standing truth to be found in current students’ taste buds.

Here are the schools with the best campus food:

Ranking The ‘Best Campus Food’ From 2015 to 2010

 

2015 Rank & School 2015 Rank 2014 Rank 2013 Rank 2012 Rank 2011 Rank 2010 Rank
Virginia Tech 1 4 2 3 2 1
University of Massachesetts – Amherst 2 3 3 10 NR NR
Cornell University 3 5 8 8 5 9
Bowdoin College 4 1 1 2 1 2
St. Olaf College 5 8 13 19 6 3
James Madison University 6 2 4 5 3 4
Washington University in St. Louis 7 9 5 7 10 10
Bryn Mawr College 8 10 9 4 8 7
College of the Atlantic 9 7 7 NR 17 18
St. Anselm College 10 12 10 11 16 NR
Skidmore College 11 NR NR NR NR NR
Wheaton College 12 6 6 1 4 13
Tufts University 13 14 17 NR NR NR
Seattle University 14 NR NR NR NR NR
Claremont McKenna College 15 11 NR NR NR 16
Bates College 16 16 11 NR NR 17
Boston University 17 NR NR 13 NR NR
Dartmouth College 18 NR NR NR NR NR
Goucher College 19 NR NR 18 NR NR
University of Notre Dame 20 13 12 20 9 11
Middlebury College NR 15 NR NR 13 NR
Miami University (Ohio) NR 17 18 NR NR NR
University of San Diego NR 18 NR NR NR NR
University of Dayton NR 19 NR NR NR NR
University of Georgia NR 20 15 6 7 12
Purdue University – West Lafayette NR NR 14 NR NR 19
Scripps College NR NR 16 16 12 NR
Gettysburg College NR NR 19 NR NR 20
St. Lawrence University NR NR 20 NR NR NR
Colby College NR NR NR 9 11 6
University of Scranton NR NR NR 12 NR NR
University of Richmond NR NR NR 14 19 NR
Kansas State University NR NR NR 15 NR NR
University of New Hampshire NR NR NR 17 NR NR
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering NR NR NR NR 14 5
University of California – Los Angeles NR NR NR NR 15 NR
Gustavus Adolphus College NR NR NR NR 18 8
Occidental College NR NR NR NR 20 NR

Source: The Princeton Review