How the Plan Works
Level Options
Purchasing the Meal Plan
Adding Dining Dollars
Changing the Meal Plan Level
Leftover Dining Dollars
How the Plan Works
The Campus Meal Plan offers savings and easy purchasing for individuals that regularly eat twelve or more meals per week on campus.
Meal plans are accessed via the Penn State id+ Card. When you purchase the meal plan, funds are deposited into your new account. Each time you visit a dining facility operated by Penn State Housing and Food Services, simply present your id+ card to the cashier, who will swipe the card through a reader. The reader will access your account, deduct the proper purchase amount, and display your new account balance.
Plan Costs
The total cost of the meal plan per semester is a combination of two basic components:
1. Base Cost: This represents the non-food costs for operating the food court, such as labor, supplies, maintenance, and utilities. When you purchase a meal plan, you pay the base cost up front for the entire semester.
2. Dining Dollars: This represents the funds available to you for meal purchases throughout the semester.
All menu items have a cash price that includes both the food costs and the base cost of operation. Since meal plan members pay this base cost up front for the entire semester, on-campus dining purchases are significantly discounted with each visit. Meal plan members receive a special set rate when purchasing meals at the Gazebo at Dobbins, an all-you-care-to-eat facility. Purchases made at Bruno’s and other campus food service facilities will receive a 10 percent discount off the cash price of prepared food purchases. For certain items, such as prepackaged vendor items, no discount is given.
Level Options
The meal plan offers six level options, with varying dining dollars available to purchase meals. Meal plan levels can be adjusted until 14 days before the end of the semester by visiting www.eliving.psu.edu, or funds can be added online by visiting www.idonline.psu.edu or with cash/check at the cashier station in any Penn State Food Service operation.
If you have a Housing and Food Service Contract, use our Meal Plan Calculator to help figure out the best meal plan level for you.
If you do not have a contract, check out the Campus Meal Plan rates for the Fall 2009-Spring 2010 semesters.
Purchasing a Plan
If you are an on-campus student, the meal plan is a part of the Housing and Food Service Contract, and you do not need to submit a separate contract. The meal plan charge will be applied to your student account, along with the room fee. The meal plan is option for on-campus apartment residents.
If you live off campus, you may purchase a plan using the downloadable Contract Card. Submit the card to the Housing and Food Services Office. The cost will be charged to your Bursar account (semester bill), unless you mail the Contract Card with a check made payable to The Pennsylvania State University. Please note – if you are submitting the payment after the beginning of the semester, the meal plan cost will be prorated. Any extra money that you pay would be deposited into your student account.
When you purchase the Campus Meal Plan, you must do so for an entire semester. You may change the meal plan level during the semester until 14 days before the last day of finals (Friday December 4, 2009 for fall semester and Friday April 23, 2010 for spring semester) by using id+ Online. The meal plan is binding for the semester and balances are not refundable. If you withdraw from the University, the remaining funds and a percentage of the base cost (based on University refund chart) will be credited to your Bursar account. The meal plan cannot be transferred or assigned to another individual.
Printable Contract Card
View a downloadable meal plan Contract Card. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the file. If you are unable to open this file, please call or visit the Housing and Food Services Office for a contract.
Adding Dining Dollars
After opening an account, you may add funds at any time. To add funds:
• Visit id+ Online, where you can pay with MasterCard or Visa.
• Visit the Housing and Food Services Office, where you can pay with
cash or check.
• Visit the Housing and Food Services cash register to pay with cash.
Changing the Meal Plan Level
You may change the meal plan level anytime during the semester until 14 days before the last day of finals (Friday December 4, 2009 for fall semester and Friday April 23, 2010 for spring semester) by using id+ Online. Any credits or charges from changing the Meal Plan Level will be credited to the student’s Bursar account. It is recommended to add funds versus increasing the meal plan level to eliminate excess dining dollars at the end of the semester.
Leftover Dining Dollars
Leftover funds at the end of fall semester will be carried over to spring semester only if the meal plan is purchased within the first two weeks of spring semester. A smaller meal plan level may be purchased for spring. On-campus students are required to purchase the meal plan for both fall and spring semesters. If you do not purchase the meal plan by the end of the second week of spring semester, any leftover funds from fall will be forfeited. Leftover funds do not carry over from spring semester and are forfeited.
