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.
Bon Appetit, 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: 2024–25 Academic Year
| 20 Flex/Meal Plan | $3,190/semester (includes $150 Flex dollars) |
| 15 Flex/Meal Plan | $3,015/semester (includes $150 Flex dollars) |
| 12 Flex/Meal Plan | $2,560/semester (includes $150 Flex dollars) |
| 10 Flex/Meal Plan | $2,370/semester (includes $150 Flex dollars) |
| 10 Meal Plan | $2,235/semester (no Flex dollars) |
| 175 Block Plan: 175 “any time” meals | $2,790/semester (includes $150 Flex dollars) |
| For Apartment Residents and Commuter Students only: | |
| 5 Flex/Meal Plan | $1,000/semester (includes $50 Flex dollars) |
| 20 Block Plan: 20 “any time” meals | $635/semester (includes $350 Flex dollars) |
Meal Plan Dates: 2024–25 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 2024 meal plans begin | Thursday, August 29, 2024 |
| Last day to reduce meal plan for residence hall residents | Friday, October 18, 2024 |
| Thanksgiving Break — no meals served | November 27-December 1, 2024 |
| Meals resume with Sunday breakfast, December 1 | |
| Holiday Break — no meals served | December 21, 2024 — January 8, 2025 |
| Meals resume Thursday breakfast, January 9 | |
| Spring 2025 meal plans begin | Thursday, January 9, 2025 |
| Spring Break — no meals served | Saturday, March 1 — Saturday, March 8 |
| Meals resume Sunday breakfast, March 9 | |
| Last day of Spring 2024 meal plans | Saturday, May 10, 2025 |
| Summer 2025 meal plans begin | Breakfast, Sunday, May 11, 2025 |
| Last day of Summer 2025 meal plans | Wednesday, August 27, 2025 |
How to select your Fall 2024/Spring 2025 meal plan:
- Go to My Housing Self Service.
- Choose "Dining" from the menu on top.
- Click the button to 'Select/Change my plan'.
- Select the academic term you wish to edit. Please note at certain times of the year you can make dining changes to the current term as well as a future term.
Any prorated adjustments due to cancellation or changes of meal plans will be reflected on the student’s account. All questions regarding meal plan changes, meal plan billing, etc. should be addressed to Dining Services: dining.services@biola.edu or 562-903-4872
Important Notes:
- On the 'per-week' [non-'block'] plans, unused meals do not roll over to the next week and are non-refundable.
- Flex Dollars from Fall Roll-Over to the Spring semester, but do not carry 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 day 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 their meal plan for the current semester is Friday, October 18 for Fall 2024 semester and Friday, February 28 for Spring 2025 semester.
For Summer dining options, see Summer Meal Plans.