Every top-ranked peer has already decided.
Of the Princeton Review 2026 Top 25 for Best Campus Food, the self-operated programs dominate. Of the Ivy League and Ivy+ peers, Penn is the outlier. Of the institutions that have made the switch recently, none have reversed.
Peer comparison
Every top-ranked Ivy peer self-operates.
Johns Hopkins, Kent State, Oberlin, and the University of Rochester have already terminated their contracts. Penn pays 20–40% more per year than UMass Amherst, the #1 for nine consecutive years.
| School | Model | Unlimited plan / yr | PR Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Penn Bon Appétit (Compass Group) | Outsourced | $6,960 | — | No Princeton Review ranking. No public contract rebid since 2009. |
UMass Amherst | Self-operated | $8,472 | #1 | #1 for 9 consecutive years (2018–2026). |
Yale | Self-operated | $9,100 | #24 | Self-operated residential dining. |
Princeton | Self-operated | $4,500 | #23 | Self-operated; roughly $4,500/yr unlimited. |
Cornell | Self-operated | $7,328 | #9 | 23,000 meals/day across 30+ eateries. |
Johns Hopkins | Self-operated | — | — | Ended BAMCO in 2022. Rehired all hourly workers. Starting wage $19.88/hr. |
Washington U. Sodexo (post-BAMCO) | Outsourced | — | #8 | BAMCO walked away after workers unionized with UFCW Local 655. |
Harvard | Self-operated | — | — | Self-operated. |
Princeton Review rankings from the 2026 Best Campus Food list. Plan costs reflect publicly listed unlimited plans; some peers do not list single-tier unlimited equivalents.
“
We support the University's switch from Bon Appétit to in-house dining operations. This semester, students have noted an improvement in the dining halls' food quality and diversity.
The Johns Hopkins News-Letter editorial board
November 2022