Resident Dining Plans

First-year students will select their dining plan for the academic year in early-June after we begin sending room assignment information. Selections will be due later in July. If students don’t select a plan by their deadline, they will automatically be given the Go10 option. Students who are admitted over the summer may have a different timeline.

For the 2026-27 Academic Year, students can adjust their dining plan selection for the fall semester up until 11:55 pm Central on August 2, 2026.

Students will have another opportunity in November to adjust their dining plan for the spring semester.

Residents can move up to a larger dining plan at any time during the academic year by contacting dining@housing.wisc.edu.

To view or change their current dining plan selection, students should log into My UW Housing, go into their 2026-27 application (select “Click here to get started”), and then click on “Dining Plan.”

Flex Dining Dollars are retail dollars that a student can use at any food location on campus. This would include any Housing Dining venue or Union location. Think of them like cash on a debit card. They add flexibility for quick grab-and-go items, late night snacks with friends, ice cream treats, a hot beverage, extra meals, or groceries. Your dining plan provides an included amount of Flex Dining Dollars. For your convenience, you can add additional funds to supplement your needs so you are well covered in our many dining locations.

Unused meals expire at the end of the week and do not carry over to the next week. Your dining plan gives you a designated number of meals per week based on the plan you selected. We can help you decide on the right plan to fit your schedule and eating habits, ensuring you get the full value of your plan. Please reach out to us at dining@housing.wisc.edu.

Designated meals per week need to be used up within the week. Flex Dining Dollars for the 2026-27 academic year carry over throughout your time at UW-Madison.

Meals are to be used for the student who purchased the plan and cannot be used for friends or guests. Students are not allowed to use another resident’s Wiscard. Some plans include a certain number of guest meals per semester. These meals can be used for guests or friends. Once guest meals are used up, you can use your Flex Dining Dollars to buy meals for others at the door price per meal.

No. Meals aren’t transferable to other students. However, Housing Dining is a part of the Swipe Out Hunger program and residents are able to donate a meal swipe when making a purchase to support UW-Madison’s Badger FARE program. In addition, University Housing Dining takes any leftover unserved food from the Dining Markets and creates pre-packaged frozen microwaveable meals. These meals are available at no cost to any student on-campus facing food insecurity. To learn more about this program and where you can pick up food, see the Nutrition Access Program on our Food Recovery page or on Instagram and Facebook.

Yes, for residents using their dining plan meals, all meal periods – breakfast, lunch, dinner, and brunch (served on weekends) – count as equal meals and will count as one of your weekly meals. If you are a non-resident or if you are using Flex Dining Dollars or other funds to pay for a meal, there are different prices for different meal periods.

If you use all of your designated meals for the week, you can use your Flex Dining Dollars to purchase meals upon entry to the market at standard price. You’ll receive a 5% discount on food when using your Wiscard. If you run out of Flex Dining Dollars, you can add more at any time through the Flex Dining site. You can also add money to your Wiscard online or by visiting the Wiscard Office.

In addition, University Housing Dining takes any leftover unserved food from the dining markets and creates pre-packaged frozen microwaveable meals. These meals are available at no cost to any student on campus. To learn more about the Nutrition Access Program and where you can pick-up food, visit our Food Recovery page and follow the program on Instagram and Facebook.

Our weeks run Sunday through Saturday. Weekly meal balances renew for the week every Sunday at 12:00 am.

You can check your meal balance for the week along with your Flex Dining Dollars balance at any time by visiting the Wiscard online account portal. In addition, after your Wiscard is swiped for entrance in the dining facility, you balance will flash on the POS machine.

A meal exchange is a meal swipe a student can use from their total meals per week for a combination of items at Housing Dining locations like Flamingo Run, The Bean & Creamery, and Shake Smart. Alternatively, the swipe can be used for a $5 credit at Babcock Dairy and Wisconsin Union locations. Check out our meal exchange options

Having a dining plan helps ensure that students get the nutrition they need to be healthy and successful, without having to worry about budgeting for food throughout the year. It also allows us to maintain lower housing rates for our residents and gives students more value.

Students can call the unit manager office and let them know they are too ill to leave their residence hall room and that they would like to have a roommate or peer pick up their meal for them.

Students will need to supply information to the manager taking the call:

• Student name and Wiscard (to properly charge and apply a meal swipe)
• Full name of peer or friend who is picking up the meal

Unit Manager Offices:

• Carson’s Market: 608-509-6822
• Four Lakes Market: 608-262-225
• Gordon Avenue Market: 608-712-6728
• Liz’s Market: 608-381-8979
• Rheta’s Market: 608-206-9047