Meal Plan Costs and Options
Our meal plans are offered with either a per-week or per-semester meal allowance. For instance, a "10 flex/meal" plan allows you to use up to 10 meals per week in Cafe Biola while a "20 block" plan allows you to eat 20 meals per semester in Cafe Biola. Per-week meal plans replenish themselves every Sunday. For example, if you're on the "10 flex meal" plan, then every Sunday, 10 meals are downloaded onto your ID card. If you are on a block plan, you will get a one-time download of either 20 or 175 meals for the entire semester.
, Biola’s food service contractor, has won awards in the food service industry for being a trendsetter.
Minimum Meal Plan Requirement
- All residence hall residents, whether full- or part-time, are required to purchase a minimum 10-meals-per-week plan.
- Apartment residents and commuters may elect to purchase a meal plan, but are not required to do so and may opt out of their meal plan contract whenever they wish.
- Students assigned to residence halls who have not selected a meal plan by the end of Registration or by housing check-in will be assigned the 10 meal plan. Students may then change this dining plan if they wish, according to the policies governing meal plan changes.
- Students with special dietary needs, food allergies and sensitivities, or physician-prescribed diets have the option to enroll in our Special Diet Accommodation program. This program allows students to fulfill their meal plan obligation AND have their meals prepared by our on-site culinary team without a major disruption to their academic schedule and at no additional cost.
Meal Plan Rates: 2025–26 Academic Year
| 20 Flex/Meal Plan | $3,325/semester (includes $150 Flex dollars) |
| 15 Flex/Meal Plan | $3,145/semester (includes $150 Flex dollars) |
| 12 Flex/Meal Plan | $2,670/semester (includes $150 Flex dollars) |
| 10 Flex/Meal Plan | $2,470/semester (includes $150 Flex dollars) |
| 10 Meal Plan | $2,335/semester (no Flex dollars) |
| 175 Block Plan: 175 “any time” meals | $2,910/semester (includes $150 Flex dollars) |
| For Apartment Residents and Commuter Students only: | |
| 5 Flex/Meal Plan | $1,045/semester (includes $50 Flex dollars) |
| 20 Block Plan: 20 “any time” meals | $650/semester (includes $350 Flex dollars) |
Meal Plan Dates: 2025–26 Academic Year
For the purposes of Food Service, the Contract Year includes the Fall and Spring semesters. Summer meal plans are contracted separately; see below.
| Fall 2025 meal plans begin | Friday, August 29, 2025 |
| Last day to reduce meal plan for residence hall residents | Friday, October 17, 2025 |
| Thanksgiving Break — no meals served | November 26-30 |
| Meals resume with breakfast, November 30 | |
| Holiday Break — no meals served | December 20, 2025 — January 8, 2026 |
| Meals resume Friday breakfast, January 9 | |
| Last day of Spring 2025 meal plans | Saturday, May 9, 2026 |
| Summer 2026 meal plans begin | Breakfast, Sunday, May 10, 2026 |
| Last day of Summer 2026 meal plans | Thursday, August 27, 2026 |
To select or change your Fall 2025 or Spring 2025 meal plan:
- Go to the .
- Use the Meal Plan Change Form link in the bottom left corner of the page.
- Choose the Term that applies to you: Undergraduate Housing, Grad/Family Housing, or Commuter.
NOTE: If you are a commuter and have not completed an Intent to Commute form, you will need to do that before you can select a meal plan. - Scroll down to the Meal Plan Information section of the subsequent page and use the drop-down menu to select the meal plan you want.
- Click Save and Continue.
Important Notes:
- On the ‘per-week’ (non-block) plans, unused meals do not roll over to the next week and are non-refundable.
- Fall Flex Dollars roll over to the Spring semester, but do not carry over from one academic year to the next. Unused Flex Dollars expire at the end of the academic year, will not be refunded, and cannot be spent or claimed after the final date of Spring semester, or after the student leaves the University.
- Students may upgrade their meal plan at any time, however, the last opportunity to reduce meal plans for the current academic year is Friday, October 17 for Fall 2025, and Friday, February 27 for Spring 2026.