2025-2026 meal plans are available for purchase starting April 2, 2025.
What is a Meal Plan?
Meal Swipes
Meal Swipes give you access to any of our all-you-care-to-eat dining halls, including The Dish at O'Hill, Runk, and the Fresh Food Company at Newcomb Hall.
Meal Exchange & Reusable To-Go
Meal Exchange allows you to use a Meal Swipe to purchase pre-set combo meals at select locations beyond the dining halls.
- Only one Meal Exchange swipe per hour is permitted.
- You may use up to 2 meal swipes at Meal Exchange locations per day.
UVA Dine offers free reusable to-go boxes in all 3 of the residential dining halls and Brandon Avenue locations. Using a Meal Swipe to obtain a reusable container is a convenient way to take food on the go while minimizing waste. Learn more about the Reusable To-Go program.
Dining Dollars
Dining Dollars are included with your meal plan to be used at all UVA Dine locations. Visit our locations page for more information, including menus and hours of operation.
Guest Meals
All Access Meal Plans come with 10 guest meals to use for visiting friends or family. Block Meal Plan holders may use any available meal swipes for guests.Meal Plan Benefits
With your Meal Plan, you receive many benefits and perks, including:
- Quality food made fresh by our culinary team, with a variety of menu options personalized the way you like
- Healthy choices available all across Grounds
- Special events, theme meals and exclusive offers for Meal Plan members
- Casual atmosphere with Wi-Fi, TVs, music, and lounge-style seating – perfect for studying or hanging out with friends
All residential dining halls have a dedicated allergen-friendly station called the Copper Hood. Copper Hood is a station in the dining hall where our dining team prepares delicious dishes from ingredients without the 9 most common food allergens – egg, milk, peanut, tree nuts, shellfish, soy, wheat, fish, sesame – and gluten.
To-go meals: simply request a to-go box when you swipe in at any of our dining halls – learn more about to-go meals online!
Incoming First-Year Information
Every First-Year student is required to have an All Access Meal Plan for both semesters. This meal plan allows them to swipe into all-you-care-to-eat dining halls as many times as they would like daily, or use up to two meal swipes per day at retail dining locations, and 10 guest meals per semester. Dining dollars can be used at any UVA Dine location for food or drink.
Meal plans for 2025-2026 will be available for purchase on the Student Meal Plan page beginning April 2, 2025. Rising first years will be signed up for their meal plan automatically in late June/early July. All student meal plan charges will be billed in SIS with all other UVA charges once the term is open for billing in July.
Managing Your Plan
There are two ways you can check your Meal Swipes and Dining Dollars balance:
- Visit the Cavalier Advantage website to view your balances
- Visit the Meal Plan office on the first floor of O’Hill, open Monday-Friday 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
Key Dates
Rising First-Year - You will automatically be signed up for the appropriate fall/spring All Access meal plan automatically prior to the July UVA billing. Do not order a plan once you see a meal plan charge through SFS or it may result in duplicate charges.
- There is no deadline or default date for Upperclassmen or transfer student unless they live in a residence hall that requires a Meal Plan.
Fall 2025 Dates
- August 21, 2025 - Meal Plans and dining service begins for fall 2025
- September 3, 2025 - Last day to downgrade or cancel an upperclassman meal plan for fall
Spring 2026 Dates
- January 11, 2026 - Dining service begins for the spring 2026
- January 21, 2026 - Last day to downgrade or cancel an upperclassmen meal plan for spring
Reminder: Meal Plans are annual contracts, billed each semester. Therefore when you sign up for a Meal Plan in the fall, it continues in the spring - no need to sign up again!
