If you're a student, you may only stop and consider the cost of your Sodexo meal plan once in a while. Likely, this is when you a) have to choose one at the beginning of the semester or b) during the end-of-semester rush to use your unspent flex dollars before they expire.

But there's another time, after your college days, when you really start to consider how much you spent: when student loans kick in. By that time, there's not much you can do about it.

But it's time to solve that problem. We've created a cost-per-meal calculator to help you more effectively choose a meal plan and to empower you to ask for more affordable options.

Here are just some of the things that we've found using the cost-per-meal calculator:

1. At some Sodexo universities, students who opt for the least expensive meal plan end up paying almost $10 per meal. At Denison University in Ohio, the cost-per-meal under the "Plan C" option is $9.84, while at William Patterson in New Jersey, a single meal rings in at $8.91. At Ithaca College in Upstate New York, the cost per meal is almost $12.
2. Missing one or two meals a week makes the per meal price jump even higher. For students on the 225 meal plan at Wittenberg University, skipping two lunches increases the per meal cost to $9.04.

Students looking for more reasonably priced meal plans may be frustrated to learn that at some locations, in exchange for a large donation from Sodexo, the administration has approved a food service contract that limits students' food choices on campus.

Sodexo recently made headlines at the University of Louisville, where the company pledged to invest $11 million in improvements in the dining system in exchange for mandatory meal plans for commuter students. Students, who were already struggling with increased costs, rallied to get the mandatory meal plans overturned, and state lawmakers are supporting student efforts.

Are you concerned that Sodexo is driving up prices at your college? Do you have mandatory meal plans? Plug your meal plan information into the calculator, and leave us a comment about your meal plan costs!