Whether you’re a freshman stepping foot on a college campus for the first time or a post doctoral candidate, you need to eat. Not to worry, ISU Dining has you covered with a variety of plans to accommodate any student’s needs.

Choosing a Meal Plan

When choosing a meal plan, be sure to consider how many meals a week you’ll need to eat on campus. Consider if you eat breakfast everyday, your class schedule and whether or not you’ll be on campus on the weekends. 

After you figure out how many meals you’ll need in an average week, go from there. Be conservative when selecting a plan. Students are allowed to bump up to a larger plan at any time, but may only move to a lower plan at specific times during the semester.

July 15 is the deadline to choose a plan. If a plan has not been chosen by the deadline, the Gold Plan will automatically be selected for you.

THE PLANS

Semester Plans offer a combination of meals and Dining Dollars each semester, so you can choose when, where and how often to eat. Meals can be used at all dining centers as well as for meal bundles in select retail locations. Dining Dollars can be used at any ISU Dining location. There are five Semester Plan options available to choose from:

Semester Plans

Plan Name	Meals per Semester	DD$ per Semester	Avg. Meals per Week
Cyclone	304	$125	19
Cardinal	275	$150	17
Gold (default)	225	$200	14
Silver	175	$250	11
Bronze	125	$300	8

Meal plans are purchased on a yearly basis with a set amount of meals and Dining Dollars allotted at the start of each semester.

• Any unused meals expire at the end of each semester.
• At the end of fall, unused Dining Dollars roll over to the spring. At the end of spring, all unused Dining Dollars will expire.
• Unused meals and Dining Dollars will not be reduced or refunded.

Meal Blocks

Meal Blocks can be used in all dining centers and in select retail locations for meal bundles.

Block Name	Meals
25 Meal Block	25
50 Meal Block	50
75 Meal Block	75
100 Meal Block	100

• Meal Block meals are allotted at the start of fall semester or at the time of purchase if selected after the academic year has begun.
• At the end of fall, unused meals roll over for use during spring.
• At the end of the spring semester, on the Monday following commencement, all unused meals expire. You are encouraged to use your meals as unused meals will not be reduced or refunded.

Healthy Options

Students are able to find healthy food options at all ISU Dining locations. NetNutrition is an online tool available to students who wish to keep track of their calorie intake and can be found at dining.iastate.edu/nutrition/netnutrition. Union Drive Marketplace offers a special diet kitchen for students with food allergies or intolerances.

Rates are available at dining.iastate.edu/rates.