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Part 3 -parents comments (sorry for delay - computer glitches)
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Just sent my son to college.  Several colleges will work with you regarding
the Celiac diet, but many will not.  Many haven't even heard of Celiac
unfortunately.  Notre Dame is wonderful at handling special diets and has a great
cafeteria!  They treat the kids like family.  Arizona State doesn't get it even
though the dining manager says they will work with you, but they did not offer
to do anything special.  California Polytechnic in San Luis Obispo will work
with you and their meal plans are accommodating for these things and the
Executive Chef, Antonio, gladly works with your son/daughter to create special meals.
 University of Miami, which also has a great cafeteria, will work with you.
And Ball State's Dining Services Manager knows about Celiac Disease and lists
Celiac Disease/Gluten-free diet on their website in the Dining Services
section!  Illinois Institute of Technology does not have anything to help you with
special diets.
Some colleges have kitchens in the dorms for use by students.  Some say that
the student can use the kitchen in the RA's room.  It just depends on the
college and how they run their dining halls.  We tried to make it a very important
issue when we visited all the college campuses, for educating the people
there as well as for checking out the possibilities for our son.  If he can't eat
there, he won't go there.  Just be sure and check out their cafeteria(s) and
speak to the Dining Services manager directly when you visit or when you call.
Some colleges won't let the students bring any electrical appliances into
their rooms, no matter what, and others will.  It's so varied, you just have
to make sure you check it out at each possible college.

When we visited the colleges, we got the phone book about and checked for all
the "health food" stores around and visited the closest ones to see what they
actually had in stock and to see if they would special order products for
him.
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        My son was "officially" diagnosed with CD at the age of 18 his
freshman year away at college.  He was already on a food plan and did not have
difficulty finding food on it.  He was living in a dorm so cooking wasn't an option
for him.  He did quite well and had a positive attitude about it.  His only
complaint was that pizza and beer with the guys turned into salad (no Croutons)
with "safe" french fries. Your daughter will do well with a
meal plan that allows choices and a talk with the food and nutrition service
director of her chosen school should help too!  Good Luck!
PS  my son graduated from Florida State, where the food and nutrition
director offered to make special foods for the CD kids!
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My daughter was dx'd in senior year of high school and had her heart set on a
small private (catholic) college. The dietician researched celiac disease and
met with us to find out what foods we ususally ate at home but the food he
prepared was awful. He would make her a tray....which would be GF but also taste
free and cover it until she stopped by at mealtime. To be safe he made the
meals so plain that they were inedible. ...he just gave her plain everything.
The college allowed her to take the 10 meal a week plan usually only offered to
upper classmen but now that she is a sophmore she has not eaten one meal yet
in the caf. They refuse to let he opt out of the plan and they also force he to
take $100 flex per month to be used in a snack bar where the only GF foods
are chips and drinks. At the end of each semester we pull up to  the loading
dock and get about 6 cases of drinks to use up the unused dollars. She loves this
school but will be moving to an off campus apartment next year. Since
microwaves are forbidden in the dorm rooms she hides it under her bed. I cook a weeks
worth of meals  and she reheats them. Since she is only 1 hour from home she
comes home on weekends and gets some decent meals.
Celiac disease falls under the American with Disabilities Act but the gov't
funding is limited at a Catholic shool. I recommend either a state school or a
school that offers apartments. The common areas in my daughter's school have
microwaves coated in exploded ramen and easy-mac. My daughters classmates have
been wonderful....they bring their meals back to the room so she doesn't eat
alone and sometimes my daughter goes to the caf and gets a salad or some ice
cream just to be social.
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My son goes to SUNY Cortland--they were well aware of celiac disease as they
have another student.  My son is not following the diet (against my wishes)
however, I MUST.  When I go there to visit for a weekend, the head of food
services makes special meals for ME!  And I'm not even a student!  So, I think if
you ask around, you will find more and more places willing to accomodate your
daughter!
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I have a daughter who is living away at college and is a junior.  The best
advice I can give you is to do your homework ahead of time.  The first
college she attended said there would be no problem if she needed to live off
campus in order to cook for herself.  When that became a necessity because
the dorm/cafeteria food was making her sick, they did not keep their agreement
regarding her housing.  She has since transferred to a college that will allow
her to live off campus in order to prepare her own meals. Make sure that you
get a written agreement prior to making your commitment to a college/university.
My daughter is extremely happy with her choice and has joined a sorority in
order to be a part of campus life.
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My youngest child just didn't look much and we live in the south. At every
college we visited we checked the health food stores and cafe.  No school we
visited would allow opting out of the meal plan. My daughter attends a very small
school, Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama.  They are very accommodating,
allowing for food storage, toaster storage and special event servings, like
chebe, and ice cream cake on birthday.  The issue is that special takes too
much time for the college group.  Meaning my daughter cannot be finished when her
friends are. Her first year I spent hours and hours trying to pin Sysco down
with ingredients and was unsuccessful.  She is a Jr now and eats fresh stuff
in the cafe.  Her microwave in room is a toaster oven also, and there are
places on campus that put pizza on her crusts.  I am good at overnight shipping of
baked goods around heavy testing times, but do that less and less.  There is
an excellent health food store within walking distance though we did agree to a
car since the beginning so she could go out if she couldn't be content eating
at school. The cafeteria manager is quick to alert my daughter when major
changes of ingredients are made.  For instance my Sysco time did find the soy
sauce was gf and recently a new package arrived and the manager alerted Chelsea.
The first year we spent lots of time figuring out extra food storage
facilities.   There are plastic storage units with drawers that fit under beds and if
need be Chelsea could go for days not eating in cafe.  That has been handy
during hurricane evacuations.  Illness is the most difficult, but friends usually
step up to assist in special kinds of chicken soup and gf crackers.
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My 20 yr old daughter goes to Baylor University.  The food service has gone
out of its way to help her.  She transferred as a junior so she didn't live in
the dorm but, they provided freezer space since her apartment freezer was
small.  They helped her decide which foods were gluten free in their cafes. She
can eat there occasionally when she doesn't want to cook. There are other celiac
students on campus.  One we know of lived in the dorm her freshman year and
had no problems.
Texas A & M University even has a support group on campus that meets every
week.
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We have had incredible success with our son, a senior in college. He started
out at Colby College in Maine, where it was an absolute joy to work with the
dining services. They not only "get it" , but they went out of their way to
ensure that he had plently of choices on a daily basis.
He transferred to Brown in Providence, where he's had a similiar experience.
Every day he has plenty of food, and the quality is impressive. I believe
there are three students with celiac disease on campus right now...
My research also showed us that Yale posts all of their menus online, and
daily gluten free choices are indicated on those menus throughout the campus!
All I can say is that you'll need to work with the dining services people, as
well as the nutritionist on campus. Everyone wants to help, and with early
(and uncomplicated) conversations, there is no reason your child cannot be
accomodated. Part of campus life is dining in the halls, and it's my opinion that
having to cook and fend for ones self is isolating and overwhelming, to say the
least. It's important to integrate the student into the campus culture, not
to take them out of it.
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My daughter is a college freshman, dx celiac disease in November of her sr.
year of high school--quickly changed the college search.  Earlham College
(Indiana) sounded like they could accommodate her, Grinnell (Iowa) and St. Olaf
(Minnesota) also claimed that they could.  University of Chicago gave us the run
around.  When we visited we sought out the food services director, he said he
could NOT do it.  I think she could've lived off campus freshman year there,
but she didn't like it upon her visit and we all (parents and student) thought
that she'd be missing out on a lot if she wasn't able to live in the dorm and
eat with the other students her freshman year.
She ended up at The Ohio State University in Columbus OH. The associate
director of food services met with us last spring and took us on a tour--I was
somewhat impressed with their claims to be able to do g-f meals, but dd was
determined and they seemed they could do it.  Orientation in the summer had a slight
glitch first lunch then all was smooth sailing, great g-f meals, happy,
healthy daughter.  This lulled us into a sense of security and lack of follow
through that resulted in a couple of semi-rough days at the beginning of the
quarter this fall, but that was quickly worked out and they have been wonderful.
The Executive Chef, Mark Newton, is a gem.  He has made sure the chefs at the
commons where my daughter eats are aware and prepared for her and that they have
their staff trained.  He said if it wasnt' fixed he'd make her meals himself
and gave her his cell phone number and told her to call him with any problems.
 If there is a change in chefs, he calls her and introduces her to the new
chef.  For a school this large to offer such personal attention is very
impressive to me.
OSU is a huge school and yet it is by far the most accomodating and
organized.  We've also experienced the most efficient and personalized attention at
OSU, especially compared to all of the other schools listed above and even tiny
St. John's College in Annapolis, MD.
I've heard from another parent on the forums that Case Western Reserve
University in Cleveland has told them they are able to accomodate a g-f diet.  We
live nearby--don't know if its a sure thing, but certainly more and more g-f
foods available in our area in the past year.
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 Our experience was frustrating...so much so that our daughter opted for a
neighborhood college to do her general ed. classes for her first two years while
living at home. During our search, several private schools said they could
accommodate her, only to find out they truly didn't understand "gluten free".
Next fall, she will be transferring to Illinois State University in Normal.
They have a registered dietitian who works with students with special diets.  We
 have spoken to several students there who need to be gluten free and they
have told us positive things.  We'll know for sure in the fall!!

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