An open market for trading debit dollars and cash.

RIT Dining Services requires all dorm residents to have a meal plan. Assuming most residents select the 10+ meal plan, which provides $650 in food debit per semester, and the number of residents is about 2,000, each semester has a market capitalization of $1.3 million in food debit dollars. Of course, this is just a back-of-the-envelope math. In reality, some students will select the 14+ and 20+ plans, which offer less debit. Conversely, upperclassmen living in dorms are highly likely to choose the all debit meal plan. All in all, this calculation is likely on the conservative end.

At the end of spring semester, all dining dollars are forefeited. However, it is wasteful and inefficent to let those dollars go to waste. This project is an experiment to determine the true value of dining dollars.