When I found out that Taco Villa, a locally-owned Mexican restaurant on campus, was set to close its doors permanently, I was not exactly upset. I thought back to the one time I decided to give it a try, but abandoned my attempt after seeing the menu prices. I wasn’t the only one — Taco Villa’s high prices were a common complaint among students.

It’s no secret that living on campus is expensive. Besides tuition and housing costs, campus dining halls and markets have students pinching pennies. As it turns out, students are not the only ones who feel this way, as Taco Villa cited the high cost of doing business with UC San Diego as its primary reason for closing.

Taco Villa owner Ryan McGuffie told The UCSD Guardian that 10% of the restaurant’s revenue went to UCSD as part of his leasing agreement. The quiet summer months also proved to be a challenge; from June to September, Taco Villa brought in significantly fewer customers. As a result, on-campus businesses need to maximize profits during the rest of the year while regular classes are in session.

This financial burden drives campus businesses to raise their prices, taking more money from the pockets of students who are already paying a fortune to attend the school. As incoming student tuition rises, UCSD needs to make affordability a priority for students and businesses.

Students experience the lack of affordability in not only the prices of local businesses on campus, but also in the prices of the food offered in the Housing Dining Hospitality markets. When comparing on-campus markets to local grocery stores, some products cost almost double what they do off campus. A 20-ounce Lifewtr bottle sold at a nearby Walmart costs $2.48, whereas, at Sunshine Market, it costs $3.75.

These markets are also one of the few locations on campus where students can use Dining Dollars, forcing them to buy from these places regardless of the high prices. Some on-campus businesses also accept Triton Cash, but with how limited these funds are for most dining plans, students often end up running out before the end of their first quarter. 

The University is aware of these issues and tries to address them with supplemental resources like the Triton Food Pantry, which offers students access to food using a weekly point system, regardless of their financial needs. 

While they may provide temporary relief, these services do not improve affordability across campus. Students with a dining plan who utilize the Triton Food Pantry will still have to deal with the same high prices at the HDH markets. Considering that the majority of on-campus housing options require a dining plan, students almost have no choice but to pay these prices.

Whether you’re a local business or a student trying to buy groceries, no one is safe from the affordability crisis on campus. Taco Villa’s closure may have been avoided if the University’s revenue cuts weren’t so high — a cost which businesses pass down to the students they serve. It becomes difficult to justify these increased costs when students are already dealing with high prices from the markets and dining halls on campus. If UCSD really wants to serve its students, it needs to lift this unnecessary financial burden off of local businesses.