As a student living in the residence halls at Oregon State University, you are required to have a dining plan. You can choose from one of four dining plans, which give you Dining Dollars to spend at restaurants, cafes, and stores operated by UHDS.
The per-term Dining Dollar amounts are billed to your OSU student account and added to your OSU ID card at the beginning of each term. Dining Dollars are flexible; you may spend as much or as little each day as you wish.
The table below shows the amount each plan costs, as well as its "buying power." This is the increased value of your dollar with the discount you will receive using your dining plan at micro-restaurants in our three dining centers (Marketplace West, Southside Station @ Arnold, McNary Dining Center). The dining plan discount is 20 percent for the 2022-23 academic year.
Plan 1
$1,500 / Term
$4,500 / Year
Buying Power
$1,875 / Term
$24.35 daily
Plan 2
$1,300 / Term
$3,900 / Year
Buying Power
$1,624 / Term
$21.10 daily
Plan 3
$1,100 / Term
$3,300 / Year
Buying Power
$1,374 / Term
$17.85 daily
Plan 4
$900 / Term
$2,700 / Year
Buying Power
$1,124 / Term
$14.60 daily
Plan 5*
$700 / Term
$2,100 / Year
Buying Power
$874 / Term
$11.35 daily
*For 2022-23, Dining Plan 5 is available only to OSU students who returned to live on campus beyond their first year. For 2023-24, Dining Plan 5 is available only to returning on-campus residents.
Per day dollar estimates are based off of 7 days per week and 11 weeks per term.
As a campus resident, your dining plan offers additional buying power at dining center micro-restaurant locations. Use your dining plan dollars at locations in Marketplace West, McNary Dining Center and Southside Station @ Arnold and receive a 20 percent discount.
At other UHDS locations and markets, residents who use their dining plans get a 10 percent discount. This includes Off the Quad in the Memorial Union, Bing’s Cafe at Weatherford, Cascadia Market & Café at the International Living-Learning Center (ILLC), EBGBs in Marketplace West, Raintree and MainSqueeze in McNary Dining Center, and many more.
Orange Cash is a separate account on your OSU ID Card that allows you to receive a 10 percent discount at more than 25 food locations on campus, including those in the MU Commons that do not accept UHDS Dining Dollars. Anyone affiliated with OSU may have an Orange Cash account.
Note: The previous inclusion of the one-time-only $100 Orange Cash deposit with the offsetting charge to the student's account in the UHDS housing contract has been discontinued effective Fall 2022. It will not show on the student's OSU ID card nor on their Student Banner Account. However, UHDS dining plans now work at most dining locations where Orange Cash is accepted (exceptions are MU Commons restaurants and campus vending machines), so students still have the ability to use their OSU ID card to purchase food across campus.
If you do not spend all of your Dining Dollars during one academic year, Rollover Dining Plan funds will be automatically rolled over on your OSU ID card for the following year.
Residents can make changes to their dining plan by visiting the Housing Portal.
Use the chart below to help determine if you are on track with budgeting your dining plan during the term or if you need to upgrade or downgrade your plan. The amount shown is approximately what the remaining balance should be at the start of the week.
Week |
Plan 1 $ left in plan |
Plan 2 $ left in plan |
Plan 3 $ left in plan |
Plan 4 $ left in plan |
Plan 5 $ left in plan |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
START |
1500 |
1300 |
1100 |
900 |
700 |
Week 2 |
1364 |
1182 |
1000 |
818 |
636 |
Week 3 |
1227 |
1064 |
900 |
736 |
573 |
Week 4 |
1091 |
945 |
800 |
655 |
509 |
Week 5 |
955 |
827 |
700 |
573 |
445 |
Week 6 |
818 |
709 |
600 |
491 |
382 |
Week 7 |
682 |
591 |
500 |
409 |
318 |
Week 8 |
545 |
473 |
400 |
327 |
255 |
Week 9 |
409 |
355 |
300 |
245 |
191 |
Week 10 |
273 |
236 |
200 |
164 |
127 |
Week 11 |
136 |
118 |
100 |
82 |
64 |
Want to get a feel for what a typical day of eating on campus with your dining plan could look like? Check out these sample days for an idea of what your eating habits may look like on each plan.
Breakfast: $4.45 after discount
Snack: $1.55 after discount
Lunch: $9.10 after discount
Snack: $2.20 after discount
Dinner: $6 after discount
Disclaimer: This is purely an estimate and not guaranteed to represent actual usage.
Breakfast: $6.40 after discount
Snack: .70 after discount
Lunch: $8.05 after discount
Snack: $1.20 after discount
Dinner: $5 after discount
Disclaimer: This is purely an estimate and not guaranteed to represent actual usage.
Breakfast: $6.25 after discount
Lunch: $3.75 after discount
Dinner: $7.80 after discount
Disclaimer: This is purely an estimate and not guaranteed to represent actual usage.
Breakfast: $3.60 after discount
Lunch: $6.35 after discount
Dinner: $4.50 after discount
Disclaimer: This is purely an estimate and not guaranteed to represent actual usage.