Dining Plans

As a student living on campus 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 any of the 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.

  • To pay for your food, present your OSU ID card to the cashier.
  • To track your spending, visit the Housing Portal.

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). Dining plan discount is 20 percent for the 2022-23 academic year.

Dining Plans 2022–2023

 

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

 

*Dining Plan 5 is available only to current OSU students returning to live on campus beyond their first year.

Per day dollar estimates are based off of 7 days per week and 11 weeks per term.

Resident Discounts

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 Main Squeeze in McNary Dining, and many more.

 

 

Orange Cash

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.

Learn more about Orange Cash

Add Orange Cash  

Rollover Dining Plan

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.

  • The Rollover Dining Plan funds must be used within one year; any unused Rollover funds will expire at the end of Spring Term the following year.
  • If you are not continuing as an OSU student, you will not be eligible for Rollover Dining Plan funds.
  • Students who return to campus housing for a second year will continue to receive a 20 percent discount on dining center purchases when spending their Rollover funds. Students who live off campus will receive a 10 percent discount when using Rollover funds.

 

Changing Dining Plans

Residents can make changes to their dining plan by visiting the Housing Portal.

  • For the first three weeks of each term, you can select a larger or smaller plan.
  • After the third week, you can adjust to a larger plan only.
  • Plan 5 is only available to campus residents who have returned to live on campus beyond their first year. To select this plan, please email us at housing@oregonstate.edu. It cannot be selected through the 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

 

Example Days: 2022-2023 Dining Plans

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. 

  • Average daily spending guidelines are provided as a budgeting tool, based on dining plan amounts when spread out over eleven weeks each term, seven days per week. These daily amounts are merely a guideline; there is no daily spending limit at UHDS dining centers.
  • Items listed below are purely an estimate and not a guarantee of current menu listings or pricing.
Sample Day: Plan 1
Plan 1 is a good fit for you, if:
  • You plan on eating all of your meals in the dining halls during the week and on the weekend.
  • You prefer to eat larger meals.
  • You prefer to eat more than 3 meals a day, some days.
An example week day:

Breakfast: $4.45 after discount

  • French toast, two slices of bacon, with a piece of fruit and 12 oz coffee

Snack: $1.55 after discount

  • Cinnamon-raisin bagel

Lunch: $9.10 after discount

  • Smoked salmon roll, fountain drink 24oz

Snack: $2.20 after discount

  • Chocolate chip cookie, milk half pint

Dinner: $6 after discount

  • Grilled steak burrito, side of beans or rice

Disclaimer: This is purely an estimate and not guaranteed to represent actual usage.

Sample Day: Plan 2
Plan 2 is a good fit for you if:
  • You prefer to eat all meals in the dining hall on weekdays.
  • You plan to eat 3-6 meals on weekends in the dining hall.
  • You plan to eat some weekend meals off campus.
An example week day:

Breakfast: $6.40 after discount

  • Scrambled eggs with cheese, stuffed French toast, 12 oz coffee

Snack: .70 after discount

  • Banana

Lunch: $8.05 after discount

  • Made-to-order burrito bowl with rice, beans, and toppings, root beer float 16 oz

Snack: $1.20 after discount

  • Doughnut

Dinner: $5 after discount

  • Pork loin and green beans with almonds

Disclaimer: This is purely an estimate and not guaranteed to represent actual usage.

Sample Day: Plan 3
Plan 3 is a good fit for you if:
  • You prefer to eat mostly 2 meals per day during the week.
  • You plan to eat 3-6 meals on weekends in the dining hall.
  • You plan to eat some weekend meals off-campus.
An example week day:

Breakfast: $6.25 after discount

  • Two eggs your way, pancake, two sausage links, and a piece of fresh fruit

Lunch: $3.75 after discount

  • Slice of sausage and veggie pizza with a side of bread or veggies

Dinner: $7.80 after discount

  • Red curry chicken, jasmine rice, milk bubble tea (Boba)

Disclaimer: This is purely an estimate and not guaranteed to represent actual usage.

Sample Day: Dining Plan 4
Plan 4 is a good fit for you if:
  • You prefer to eat mostly 2 meals per day during the week.
  • You plan to eat 1-3 meals on weekends in the dining hall.
  • You plan to eat some weekend meals off-campus.
An example week day:

Breakfast: $3.60 after discount

  • Oatmeal and toppings of your choice, piece of fresh fruit, milk half pint

Lunch: $6.35 after discount

  • Pasta, drink 

Dinner: $4.50 after discount

  • Chicken Shawarma with basmati rice

Disclaimer: This is purely an estimate and not guaranteed to represent actual usage.