Student Affairs › Dining Services › Your Dining Plan

Which dining plan is best for you?

Your dining plan gives you access to diverse, delicious, and healthy options at over 35 dining locations on campus. Our dining plans are designed so that you can choose when, where, and what you want to eat in a way that best fits your schedule and dining needs. Your dining plan and DineXtra dollars, our declining balance program, are encoded on your Carnegie Mellon ID card, giving you easy access to your account wherever you go.

All first-year students are required to select a Traditional Dining Plan. Our Traditional Dining Plans give students the flexibility to eat a different number of meals each day, depending on their preferences.
All undergraduate students (after their first year), graduate students, faculty, and staff members can choose either a Traditional Dining Plan or a Community Dining Plan.

Dining Portal: Sign Up and Manage Your Plan

Terms to Know

Blocks/Meals

Meal blocks consist of an entrée, drink, and side(s) all for one price. Meal blocks are offered at every location on campus and offer value as compared to purchasing each item a la carte. Up to two meal blocks can be used during each meal period.

FLEXible Dollars

FLEXible dollars or FLEX comes as a part of the dining plan you purchase and can be used to upgrade your meal or purchase a la carte items at all campus dining locations. Flexible dollars expire on the last active day of the dining plan in the fall and spring semesters.

DineXtra

DineXtra can be purchased in addition to a dining plan or as DineXtra alone, and it offers a 1% bonus per $100 deposit, up to 10%. DineXtra purchased during the academic year is available through the last active date of the dining plan in the spring semester. Any unused funds expire at that time.

Guest Meals

Two guest meals are included in the green, blue, and red Traditional Plans each semester. They are not included with the community plans. You can use your guest meals on visitors or as an additional meal during one block. Guest meals can be redeemed at any time during the semester.

Traditional Dining Plans

Green Plan

First-Year: $8,508 per year / $4,254 per semester

Undergraduate/Graduate: $8,298 per year / $4,149 per semester

292 block meals per semester (approx. 18 meals per week)
$280 flexible dollars per semester
2 guest meals per semester

Blue Plan

First-Year: $8,062 per year / $4,031 per semester

Undergraduate/Graduate: $7,854 per year / $3,927 per semester

252 block meals per semester (approx. 16 meals per week)
$540 flexible dollars per semester
2 guest meals per semester

Red Plan

First-Year: $7,644 per year / $3,822 per semester

Undergraduate/Graduate: $7,438 per year / $3,719 per semester

205 block meals per semester (approx. 13 meals per week)
$880 flexible dollars per semester
2 guest meals per semester

Yellow Plan

First-Year: $3,834 per year / $1,917 per semester*

Undergraduate/Graduate: $3,624 per year / $1,812 per semester

125 block meals per semester (approx. 8 meals per week)
$195 flexible dollars per semester
_{*Available to residents of the Residence on Fifth and Clyde House.}

Community Dining Plans

Tartan Flex

$6,488 per year / $3,244 per semester

170 block meals per semester (approx. 10 meals per week)
$915 flexible dollars

Scotty's Choice

$3,710 per year / $1,855 per semester

85 block meals per semester (approx. 5 meals per week)
$655 flexible dollars

Whitfield's Favor

$2,534 per year / $1,267 per semester

54 block meals per semester (approx. 3 meals per week)
$500 flexible dollars

Piper Select

$1,644 per year / $822 per semester

32 block meals per semester (approx. 2 meals per week)
$350 flexible dollars

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